BREAKING DAWN, the other side of the story
by yeszigv
Summary: We all suffered with Bella, with Jacob. We all love Edward, we get happy and suffered with him and wish we knew how he felt through the wedding, the honeymoon, Bella's pregnancy, Renesmee's birth, the confrontation against the Volturi. Do you want to know what went through his mind during those moments? Get inside and read Breaking Dawn with Edward, know the side of his story. EPOV
1. PREFACE

**Hi, guys! I'm really excited for uploading my very first story. Take into account that I don't speak English, so if you find some mistakes, I'm very sorry! :) Hope you enjoy reading this story, it's BREAKING DAWN, all Stephenie Meyer creation, the characters and most of the dialogues.**

**I decided to write on Edward's point of view, cause, of course, I love him as many girls, too. Well someone had told me that I'm on the right way, so I hope she's right. Let me know what you think and if I should continue. I already wrote two chapters, so if I received good critics, well, just telling me to continue I'll upload them in the week. They're ready!**

**Enjoy.**

**Again, I don't own TWILIGHT. I'm just a fan.**

**...**

**This is a re-uploaded chapter, it is corrected from its grammar mistakes by an amazing person who offered to help me make all of this story much better and so it would make you read this and love it.**

**Thank you so much to my great and wonderful Beta at123. =))**

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Preface

Would I have the sufficient force?

The control on my emotions, the control to turn the person I loved more than my own life, the one that I would love until the end of my days?

I did not know, and it terrified me in the most terrible way, the possibility of losing her. But I had already committed another horrible mistake. I, after all my efforts for protecting her, had subjected her to the worst damage and pain; I had made it come to the point of her dying.

But I could not do anything against what was killing her.

How to fight against it, when to do so, would kill her?

She was simply a magnet for danger, and she was still pulling me towards her. Will there ever be a day that I will stop hurting her, with my love or my strength?

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**Well, that was just the preface.**

**I'll be waiting for the reviews.**

**So exciting... thanks for reading!**

**=D**

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So, what do you think, better?


	2. Chapter 1 MEMORIES

**Hi guys! I didn't receive reviews, but I already wrote this chapter, it's the first. But seriously, now I understand what the authors mean when they say they get depressed if they don't receive reviews, it's kinda sad.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and PLEASE REVIEW!!**

**Again, STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT...**

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CHAPTER 1. MEMORIES

From the moment in which Bella had agreed to marry me, I was counting the days, the hours, the minutes and even the seconds, in order that there should come the day that I had waited for more than hundred years. Even myself, could not believe that I had this luck. That this beautiful and fragile angel had fallen in my cold and hard arms, and nonetheless she never wanted to go away of me. Ready to deliver her soul to be able to spend the rest of the eternity at my side.

No, I simply could not believe it.

And whenever I thought in the day that was coming over to an incredibly slow speed, and to an incredibly rapid speed according to Bella, only to remember that she would be quite mine in a few hours, it crossed me a shake for the whole body, as an electrical current, I felt Bella in my arms, felt as her heart beat against my useless heart. It seemed that only to think about her, to see her and to touch her, to have her so near me, my dead heart was returning to beat as it never did in my human life.

This evening was the last night that Bella and I would spend as boyfriend and girlfriend. Tomorrow at this time of the evening we would be officially husband and woman. The mere thought was calming my nerves, the anxiety that I was feeling in the moment for going out running to her side and to have her again in my arms. To have the safety that she was healthy and safe of all the dangers that were surrounding her and stalking her.

I knew that I didn't have anything to worry, she had gone out of my house only an hour ago headed to the gas station, it had been already several days since Bella had put a single foot in the town. My beautiful and fragile Bella had been diminishing every time the opportunities to go to the town at any expense, she didn't resist neither the looks nor the pieces of gossip that were running about our sudden commitment.

I was sure because minutes before going out, Alice already had showed me a vision of Bella heading to the gas station, It had scared me a bit the fact that she almost was stamped on the steering wheel of the car when hurriedly she accelerated to escape of the starings. Nothing serious happened, and I calmed down on having seen that she would come to the gas station, and even she would do conversation with a few tourists who were passing for Forks impressed of the car that Bella was driving. I almost had an assault of laugh when I looked at them taking photos at the side of the car while Bella was shrinking inside the seat. Wishing that the land swallowed her, surely.

Silly Bella, always so shy. Days after Bella had agreed to say to her father, Charlie, that we would marry, I made a deal with her. I was longing for the moment in which I could share everything what belonged to me with her. After a long debate and complaints and more complaints from her part, Bella had accepted that on been engaged and soon married, everything mine was hers. So I had offered her what when the useful life of her rusty light truck ended, I would buy her a new car. To her great surprise, I hadn't bought only one car, but two.

At the moment I had to calm her down after a panic attack to my surprise, still she didn't overcome her horror to gifts, principally when these gifts were coming from me. I asked her after several minutes to listen to me, and ultimately I was capable of explaining to her the reason of two cars instead of only one. Alice and I had agreed in get a Mercedes Guardian. I had had to convince Alice to help me to obtain it since the car in question was not in sale yet in the United States, was the perfect car for Bella, while the day in which she would be leaving her mortal days in the past came.

Missile-proof glass and four thousand pounds of body armor, an engine biturbo of 12 cylinders and 517 CV that this version allows him to escape of any awkward situation, in addition, Guardian had a level of resistance B6/B7, which was implying being immune to small missiles and to protect opposite to fragments of grenade. In addition, pneumatic antipricks, petrol tank autosellado and system of extinction of fires. _Exaggerated_. I was saying so to myself at the time that Alice was thinking it also.

Why would she want, no, why would she need all of those characteristics into one car? I knew that no missile or grenade would fall down and shot on her head. She hated the high speed, and the majority of the time was sat to my side in my Volvo. But I wasn't going to take any risks with her life.

To think about all of that, and of not having her to my side, it started causing anxiety in me again. But again, I remember that I didn't have anything to worry.

My thoughts were interrupted when Emmett threw himself against me, at least I had not even realized that he was approaching me with other intentions than chatting, taking advantage of my now always absent-minded mind, he rushed toward me, knocking me down. It had not passed two seconds when I was already standing up shaking off the white shirt that I had decided to wear this day, now color brown for the dirt, a color that was not displeasing me for anything.

_Ha. About time I did you a joke to you seriously and didn't cheat, little brother._

Emmet. Always so immature. I did not know all the times that I had said to him that the mind reading wasn't a thing of turning off and on.

"Emmet! You're going to pay for this. Lucky you that Alice doesn't let us wear the same clothes twice."

"Does it hurt you, little brother, had dirtied your shirt?"

"Of course not." I said to him a bit discontented, while he was amusing himself, and continued presuming in his mind to have won, in spite of my skill.

_Little brother, stop whining and let's go to hunt a few bears. I'm thirsty. Rose hasn't wanted to hunt __with me since I agreed to be your godfather_.

Partly I understood my brother, to have to endure Rosalie when she was in a bad mood, had to be the worst thing. So I decided to give in and go away to hunting. Or at least saw him hunting.

I didn't understand what was the hurry, in a few hours they were going to extract me from Bella's house, Jasper and him, to celebrate my bachelor's party. They had not even an idea of all the desire I had of celebrating but my wedding, not a bachelor's party, I wasn't interested in the most minimal.

Alice had forced me to come with Emmet for a few hours, and so I didn't eavesdrop in her thoughts when Bella came to her house and the moment in which Bella were trying her wedding dress for the last time. It was a very tempting idea to see a glimpse of it, but I was perfectly conscious that Alice would bite my head off if she listened to me walking near the house to less than 2 miles of distance.

After a tortuous hour, Emmet managed to catch the smell of a bear, he devoured its blood on his usual way. He ended up worse than I had after getting up of the soil when he knocked me down. I couldn't prevent from laughing at his face. He was so comical, that for a moment I forgot about my worries. A moment that lasted five seconds.

_What? Don't make me knock you down again. We don't want Bella to see you until to tomorrow, instead of in a few hours_.

In a few hours? Was perhaps he mad. I wasn't thinking to remain hunting, or what was the same thing, to see him to hunt. Already I was counting a few minutes that I still had to be able to return to Bella's arms. They weren't many. Alice had given me the estimated of the time that it would take her the rehearsal. It was going to take her more time of the normal one because she would do that Charlie tried his suit, or the monkey suit, as I had listened him call it often in Charlie's mind. The thought it had made me laugh so much, so much that Alice had decided to keep me away from him when he tried it on.

_Edward?_ _You are mad, bro?_

It was then when I realized that I was to laughing in the middle of the forest. But how not laughing. Emmet's thoughts now were wondering if I needed to drink a bit of blood before returning to Forks. I knew that I didn't. But when he saw that I wasn't answering him and my laugh wasn't stopping, he decided to speak to me in another way that in his mind.

"Edward! I'm speaking to you."

"I know." I managed to say to him between laughs. "Sorry, it's just that I was remembering Charlie's face when he was trying the monkey suit."

_What?_

Of course Emmet wouldn't understand. He didn't know how Charlie called his suit.

"His suit, Emmet. The one he's using tomorrow in the ceremony. That's how he calls it."

And all of a suddenly, Emmet burst into laughing, which were drowning mine. We laughed until the joke stopped having effect, since we couldn't laugh up to the weariness. We weren't going to laugh because of it the rest of the eternity.

When it passed our hysterical attack, Emmet became serious, or as serious as he is able to be.

"Do you know what I've wondered till now?"

"Yes, yes I know it."

I said to him at the time that his question was passing through his mind. Typical Emmet.

_So, are you going to tell me?_

His tone was full of curiosity, he was dying to know how we had told Charlie about our engagement and how he had reacted. Till now I hadn't spoken with anybody about the matter. Only Alice knew since it had happened, though she didn't know the interior reactions of my future father-in-law.

"Fine, Emmet."

Emmet, as soon as I agreed to tell him what happened that evening, he settled down in the soil, his clothes were already on their for the garbage, so he didn't care very much the place in which he had left himself fall down.

They memories came to my mind, as a water jet when having opened the shower.

I was arranging the ideas, and miraculously, Emmet waited patiently for me to start telling him the history. He was looking like a five-year-old child, hoping that his dad gave him a gift of birthday.

It was hilarious.

Suddenly, I was sat beside my Bella, in the armchair of her house. We were waiting for Charlie to come to house and be announced by the best news that in my life I had delivered to nobody. I knew that Charlie had put a lot of effort in order to like me better in the last weeks, this news surely would finish with his efforts, I was sure that Bella would agree with me. But as long as I assured Bella's hand and I passed the rest of my life to her side, it didn't matter absolutely anything more. Only that I loved her and she loved me.

Charlie was still in the edges of the town, to approximately 3 miles of distance when I listened to his car, and his thoughts, clouded to a certain extent. I could listen that he was anxious to get to the house, was expecting that Bella already had cooked something for dinner. He was hungry. He would have to wait until speaking with him, if he remembered the dinner later.

Bella still couldn't listen to the sound of the wheels on the pavement, approaching every minute to the house. But when it was sufficiently nearby in order that Bella's ears were able to listen to the cruiser being parked in front of the house, she started fidgeting, she was nervous, her heart started fluttering more loudly than normally, the sweat moistening her face. I could realize what she was trying to do, she was trying to hide her left hand, or the ring. But I was keeping her hand firmly tight in mine, fixed and straight. Without hiding anything, not one of her fingers. Much less the ring that had caused me so much work for me to place it in her hand.

"Stop fidgeting, Bella. Please try to remember that you're not confessing to a murder here."

"Easy for you to say."

I listened when Charlie opened the door of the cruiser and got out. His boots were doing a scandalous noise when they throbbed against the water of the rain. The following thing that I listened was that he closed the door and was walking towards the door. Bella was terrified, I could listen as her heart was hastening with every step that were bringing his father closer and closer to the door.

"Calm down, Bella." I whispered, listening that her heart continued frantic.

Then, Charlie opened the door, this one went and stopped in the wall with a blow that caused that Bella to shrink furthermore.

"Hey, Charlie." I called as soon as I listened to his steps inside the house. Initially scared on having heard that someone was calling his name.

"Not." Bella protested under her breath. Barely audible to my sensitive hearing.

"What?" I whispered in the same way as she did. Confused by her protest.

"Wait till he hangs his gun up!"

Her response made me chuckle while I ran a hand through my hair. Charlie was approaching, so I stopped laughing and became serious.

In two seconds he was already coming over around the corner, when he saw us seated together in the sofa he did a great effort not to make a face. His thoughts already were shooting towards me. They didn't have so much hatred impregnated like they had done a few weeks ago.

_Why are they sat together? What can't they be separated?_

It was the most I could listen from his mind. The only thing he was thinking was why Bella had chosen me and not Jacob. I didn't have to control any emotion, in this moment I was so happy that anything could prevent it. Not even Charlie wishing that that mutt would be sitting in my place.

"Hey, kids! What's up?" Not at all, only the best news of last times. For me.

"We'd like to talk to you" To announce would be more appropriate. "We have some good news."

Immediately Charlie changed the tone of his thoughts, first he had forced a smile when he saw us together, something that wasn't necessary, I knew perfectly that he didn't want me here, and it went on to the suspicion. He was imagining the worst thing. Bella was half guilty, her expression wasn't helping very much.

"Good news?" He grunted while looking thoroughly to Bella, trying to guess the motive of this conversation.

"Have a set, dad."

Bella wasn't helping. She was doing that Charlie suspect furthermore, and wasn't near guessing. He lifted an eyebrow and for five seconds he observed Bella, studying her. He gave in and stomped towards the reclinable. He only sat in the edge expecting to give a jump towards me, if the occasion was deserved it.

"Don't get worked up, dad. Everything's okay." Bella said to him after a few minutes of silence. I made a grimace when I listened to the word that Bella had chosen to describe the news. Okay? Was it the better she could do?

"Sure it is, Bella, sure it is." Charlie said to her doubtful of the consolation that Bella was giving him. "Is everything is so great, then why are you sweating bullets?"

"I'm not sweating." Bella lied pathetically. While she leaning away from the look that Charlie was giving her and shrunk on me to clean the sweat that was running for her forehead.

And suddenly Charlie exploited.

"You're pregnant! You're pregnant, aren't you?"

I had to sham alert before his movement, not his accusation, it was impossible that I'd gotten Bella pregnant, not only because it was impossible that that was going to happen, but because for no motive I would have relations with her before our wedding. Like I had promised.

Charlie was looking at me while he was asking Bella if it was that what was happening, his hand had moved towards his gun. It didn't get farther, because Bella intervened.

"No! Of course I'm not!"

"Oh. Sorry." As soon as Bella answered his question with the response that in that moment he was longing the most, his frown got lighter. In his mind, I had seen Bella's reaction at the same time as Charlie had, he believed her without doubts.

"Apology accepted." Bella said to him, and the atmosphere relaxed a bit.

Charlie continued waiting for Bella to speak the so waited good news that we were there to give him. But Bella remained pulled down. I saw her right to her eyes and knew that no words were going to be able to come out of her. I smiled at her before squaring my shoulders and turned towards Charlie.

"Charlie, I realize that I've gone about this out of order. Traditionally, I should have asked you first. I mean no disrespect, but since Bella has already said yes and I don't want to diminish her choice in the matter," I couldn't have done it "instead of asking you for her hand, I'm asking you for your blessing. We're getting married, Charlie. I love her more than anything in the world, more than my own life, and by some miracle she loves me that way, too. Will you give us your blessing?" Would it be that some day it would stop surprising me that I have been the chosen one, which she has said yes to? I knew that I would never get tired of being happy whenever she said yes to me.

While reading what Charlie was thinking, I felt that Bella had relaxed for what it lasted one of her heartbeats, in such a way that she hadn't felt since she gave me the yes. As if she herself had been glad to listen to this news. Then she realized the expression that now was sealed in Charlie's face, his eyes looking at the ring that now was adorning her soft hand.

I listened as Bella took air and contained it. Charlie was processing this new information. His face was losing his color. Thinking, again, why Bella had chosen me. Now he was feeling that I was stealing her from his side. Then he remembered whenever Bella's face was illuminated at being at my side, whenever she was jumping out of the chair to receive me, as whenever she was mentioning my name and her face was filled with emotion and love, and he realized that Bella loved me so much like I loved her.

He wouldn't be opposed, while Bella was hundred per cent sure.

Bella started getting up, I didn't know what she was trying to do, but before Charlie realized her movement, I whispered to her, "Give him a minute."

After a long silence, Charlie's face was recovering his color. He had half-closed his eyes and his eyebrows were wrinkled. He was thinking seriously and deeply over our relationship and sudden engagement. Though he wasn't completely surprised. He had been suspecting it for a few weeks ago to now. But again, in his mind I couldn't see that he was going to refuse, so I could relax.

"Guess I'm not that surprised." He murmured, while he continued thinking the same thing that he had said. "Knew I had to deal with something like this soon enough."

He didn't have idea that it would had been much sooner than he was thinking, but it hadn't been like that because Bella was stick to her idea of it's not necessary to marry to spend the eternity at my side.

Finally Bella breathed out the air that she had contained all this time. I relaxed furthermore.

"You sure about this?" Charlie demanded a response from her, looking at her without distractions.

Now I was the one who contained the breath. I was afraid of her response for the second it took her to answer.

"I'm one hundred percent sure about Edward." Bella said, and her tone was reflecting what she has just assured. I could breathe again. Idiot, to doubt her response.

The suspicion was coming back.

"Getting married, though? What's the rush?"

Bella kept silent for a few minutes, thinking about the reasons that so much she had given me for the last months to convince me to turn her at once. Her age, it was everything that mattered for her, that she continued _aging_ as she said, while I was frozen in my seventeen years and I would continue to be for the rest of my existence. Surely also she thought about the fact that the Volturi continued to the watch us, waiting that we were turning her and so they didn't to have to kill her. Something that I would never allow. All these reasons couldn't be spoken. So I decided to intervene in this occasion.

"We're going away to Dartmouth together in the fall, Charlie, I'd like to do that, well, the right way. It's how I was raised."

I didn't even have to lie. About the second part, of course. Bella was still determined not to attend to the university. But that was the public history.

Charlie listened attentively to my words, looking for a side that he could refuse to agree. He didn't find anything. His lips twisted before these words. For a moment he considered seriously to refuse, but then he remembered my words. There was no way of refusing in any logical form.

"Knew this was coming." He murmured seriously. After a moment his forehead was smoothed. His thoughts went towards Renee. I didn't understand it initially why he was thinking about her. And then I saw it. I knew that Renee was completely in opposition to the marriage before 30, since Bella had said to me before. He was going to leave her the task of announcing the news to Bella.

"Dad?" Bella sounded worried. From Charlie's mind I saw that she had turned over to see me, probably for me to explain the behavior of her dad. I didn't turn over towards her, I continued looking at Charlie. Waiting.

"Ja!" Charlie didn't hold it any more, and exploded in laughs. Thinking in Bella and Renee discussing the topic. "Ja, ja, ja!"

Bella continued looking at Charlie, but now I couldn't see her face, since Charlie was doubling in laughter, all his body trembling with the effort.

To this point, to think about the face that Bella would make at the moment to have to force the truth to her mother, after listening how pulled down she was of what Renee would think about it, I myself was holding back the laughter.

"Okay, fine." Charlie forced the words, he still wasn't controlling the assault of laugh. "Get married." The alone thought was causing that Charlie laughed furthermore. "But…"

Here was coming his threat. That way he was considering it, believed that Bella would give in if she saw herself obliged to be the one who would say to her mother about the upcoming wedding.

"But what?" Bella asked him, exasperated by the behavior of his father. She didn't have any idea of what Charlie was going to say. Would it work?

"But you have to tell your mom! I'm not saying one word to Renee! That's all yours!" The assault of laugh returned with more force. Bella had frozen before his response. But my fear didn't last, because Bella didn't give in.

Yes, I was the luckiest man of the world. This angel wasn't going to allow that either anything or anybody should separate us. Not even the opinion of her mother. I wasn't, at the moment, so pulled down like Bella. I knew that Renee wouldn't refuse, since our trip to Jacksonville she has been sure that our relationship was more than a high school crush. She) was going to wait patiently that the invitation came to her. She hadn't mentioned anything to Bella, believing that it wouldn't do any good to the conversation and the visit. Renee was more observant than, even, Bella.

I returned to the present. Emmet was laughing so hard, imagining the reactions and faces that Bella had done during the whole evening. He was doubling in the land, was looking like a child rolling about for the whole soil.

"Well, that's it, Emmet. Happy?"

He kept laughing when I was waiting for his response, so he chose to answer me in his mind, instead of ruining his amusement.

_Very happy, little brother. I wish I would've been there._

"Don't tell Bella I told you about this."

_Course not._

"Shall we?"

"Bella's not running away, Edward. Alive would've seen it and you wouldn't be here."

I knew that Bella wouldn't run away. He didn't have to say anything to me. The fact is that the time was ending. In 20 minutes Alice would be back home, and I would be free to go see my Bella before Emmet and Jasper were extracting me of there later.

"I know, Emmet. But it's thirty minutes from here to home, and Alice would be there in twenty. So, let's go now."

_What's the rush? Tomorrow you'll have her to you for all eternity._

The thought made me happy, but it didn't stop me enough as to want to remain any more time seeing Emmet laughing of Bella and her reactions.

I started running towards the house, in a matter of seconds Emmet was shouting me in his head in order for me to wait for him. So I lowered a bit the speed.

I was feeling like Bella and her warmth were pulling me increasingly to her, like my body was reacting to the thought of Bella being more nearby with every step that I was taking. The emotion made me run furthermore rapidly. Emmet returned to shout in his head that I wasn't leaving him behind, but the only thing I was thinking about was in Bella. I ran even more rapidly.

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**I hope it wasn't too long, but I think it's okay, cause Edward can think so much more than Bella in just a second.**

**Well, I'll keep writing if you REALLY like my work. It's harder than I thought.**

**THANKS FOR READING and STEPHENIE MEYER FOR GIVING US THIS PERFECT MAN EVEN JUST IN HER BOOKS.**


	3. Chapter 2, LONG NIGHT

**Hi! Here's the second chapter... hope you enjoy, it started kind of easy, but it gets more difficult every chapter. wOw!**

**Well, I wait you could take some seconds of your time to say I like it or I don't like it. =D**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT**

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CHAPTER 2. Long Night

"I miss you already."

Those words tied me to her side. Indeed I didn't want to go, but I knew that Jasper, very much fewer Emmet, would allow me to escape this night.

"I don't need to leave. I can stay. . . ." I said the words without thinking. It was what I more wanted. Damn!

"Mmm."

The silence flooded the room for a few moments. The only sound to be heard were the strong beatings of Bella's heart, hastening whenever my hands were touching her face, her shoulders, her waist... the sound of our breathing being cut whenever we needed to breathe to recover of our exuberant kisses, the soft whisper of her lips on mine.

In moments as these, was when it was more difficult for me to keep in control, Bella let herself get carried away so easily, forgetting I that might hurt her if I got distracted just a minute. It was as if it wasn't important for her that she was in the arms of a monster. I still didn't recover of the surprise and the emotion that I felt whenever Bella pulled towards her, wishing to be sufficiently strong to retain myself in her arms when she more wanted to continue. When I more wanted to continue, it was when I had to stop. Soon, I said to myself, you soon will be able to enjoy by having her completely in your arms, without fear of hurting her.

It wasn't difficult to get convinced of this reality, but Bella had stuck to our deal. How to make her see that she was traversing more danger of the one that she believed?

I opened my eyes to see the beautiful and soft face of my Bella, the heat that was coming from her face was making me want to be closer to her. Her hands touching my face, my chest, they still were sending currents of electricity as that time, the first time that I had allowed myself so near her delicate skin. I felt this electricity and I kissed her more deeply that a little while ago.

My eyes were still looking at her, at this moment I was feeling happier than what I hadn't experienced much long ago. I had in my arms the angel most beautiful that in my life or existence, had I imagined having.

How it was possible that I had earned the opportunity to be completely happy for the first time, of having found the missing piece in my chest, and regardless, my angel wanted to be to my side, supporting her and to never move away from her side?

I couldn't imagine what I had done to deserve so much love and comprehension on the part of such a clean and pure soul as that the one of my Bella.

The best thing of everything, it's that it was just the beginning of a life full of happiness next to my beautiful and fragile angel. Tomorrow it would be the first day of the eternity to her side. Tomorrow she would be my wife finally, and after fulfilling my demands and hers, we would do the change that Bella so much wished, and at this point, I also was anxious to fulfill her desires. What wouldn't I do for her?

Suddenly Bella opened her eyes, to meet mine, opening a way to her soul. It was as if I could see the paradise, the heaven that so much I wanted to share with my angel. There it was, and nothing could make me doubt that Bella loved me when I saw in the depths of her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. Those eyes that had hypnotized me from the first time that they had met with mine.

It was something that I would never stop understanding, because Bella was looking at me just now with the same adoration that I was feeling at this moment for her. It was as if she was the winner instead of being me.

She) didn't have idea of how wrong she was. My life would continue being emptiness in the eternity, a useless poor person walking among the people without finding a reason of continuing in this world. For her I had been reborn, had known something that I never thought I would manage to feel, to know, the love. The warmth that she was delivering me whenever her lips were speaking _I love you_, or her laugh, oh, how much I loved that laugh, her smile whenever she saw me being there to her side, the blush that colored her cheeks when my eyes were dazzling hers, or my hands touching softly and delicately her face, whenever our lips were joining in a kiss full of love. Everything in her was attracting me, was as if I had born to be hers, and she to be mine.

Bella pulled my face towards hers, beginning the kiss again. What better way of saying to me to stay instead of going away. I wasn't objecting.

"Definitely staying." I said to her after a moment of enjoying our kiss. I didn't want it to end ever.

"No, no. It's your bachelor party. You have to go."

Ha. As if I would prefer to be out there with my brothers, drinking blood, to being next to my love. It wasn't necessary for me to say anything, as if Bella could read my thoughts, her right hand stuck to my hair, pulling towards her, her left hand pressing me with all her force towards her. I caressed her warm face. Feeling as that electrical current was going on from her face to my hand.

"Bachelor parties are designed for those who are sad to see the passing of their single days. I couldn't be more eager to have mine behind me." Not, I couldn't, I was barely bearing the desires of calling her my wife finally. "So there's really no point."

"True." She said to me at the time that her warm and delicious breath was striking the skin of my neck.

We kept going like that for a longer moment. Looking into the eyes of each other. Enjoying the time that we still had together before my brothers came for me. I would wait to them to come for me. For no reason I would get up of the side of my Bella to go hunting to the forest, far from my angel. I was waiting that my brothers Jasper, and specially Emmett, were leaving me alone this night, to remain next to Bella. I was doubting that they were going to leave me escape. So I was going to enjoy every second of Bella's warm company.

As she was enjoying surely, we were in his small bed, Bella was completely sheltered in a comforter in order that to not freeze with the direct contact of my skin, I had thrown my shirt to the floor. So when her hand went towards my chest, I knew what would come, I enjoyed it beforehand and when it came it was much better.

Her hand crossed my chest, of above to below, her touch threw another electrical current that crossed my whole body. I felt the heat that was making her hand on having touched my skin. The emotion made me tremble with pleasure, I couldn't bear any more and pulled her face towards mine. Looking for her lips, pressing them against mine.

But Bella had to go farther, I felt as her soft and desirable tongue started licking my lips. I didn't know why I was surprised. Bella always wanted more than I couldn't give her yet. It was the most sensual sensation, to have it so near me, but I knew that I had to stop it before she wanted more. I started pulling away from her face, finishing with the sensation.

"Wait, practice makes perfect." Bella said to me while holding me for the shoulders and embracing me harder towards her, her touch sending more vibrations to my body, then she liberated one of her legs from the comforter and put it over my waist.

I laughed to her words and human reactions. She didn't know the power that she had on me. "Well, we should be fairly close to perfection by this point, then, shouldn't we? Have you slept at all in the last month?"

Her next words froze in place. "But this is the dress rehearsal, and we've only practiced certain scenes. It's no time for playing safe."

Safe? Bella continued believing that I couldn't hurt her. How I wanted to be able to believe and to trust in myself as she) seemed to trust in me. It was a blind confidence the one she had in me. Perhaps hadn't I given her enough reasons and proofs of the poor control that I had on me? How I lost the reason whenever she was so near to me. I was too good concealing all my efforts, Bella didn't see my constant struggle for not killing her or not hurt her. Her blood didn't call me like it did in the past, but continued burning my throat but my being fled of any movement that could hurt her. Now I was fighting against my carnal desires, to have her body close to mine. As she begged me to be. To try, it was the most that I could promise her.

"Bella..." I whispered, hoping that my tone was saying everything to her. I was scared of what might happened. But she was still stubborn, and I knew that she wouldn't change her decision.

"Don't start this again." Just as I thought. "A deal's a deal." Didn't she understand?

"I don't know. It's too hard to concentrate when you're with me like this. I—I can't think straight. I won't be able to control myself. You'll get hurt." That was a fact.

"I'll be fine." In that moment I wanted to shake her with as much force as it was possible, to make her understand that it wasn't so easy for me as for her. My efforts would be uselessly and I would end hurting her before time. I couldn't avoid thinking that the things wouldn't work out as she hoped

"Bella..." She whispered against my lips, keeping them silent from my words. Yes, as I thought, Bella wouldn't give in, not so close to the wedding and of achieving what she had been requesting me for the last weeks.

I kissed her back, but I couldn't avoid still worry, the words had gotten to my head and were at the front of my mind. Watch out! Do not hurt her. Do not be very hard. She is so fragile as a bubble. Do not get distracted. Bella, Bella, listen to me, I'm dangerous. I continue being a danger though I love you. Why don't you listen to me? I love you.

"How are your feet?" I asked her when we stopped our kiss to recover our breath.

"Toasty warm." She answered me, and her response made me so much happy. But I wanted to continue joking, though deeply I wanted to listen to her words of assurance in this topic.

"Really? No second thoughts? It's not too late to change your mind."

"Are you trying to ditch me?" As if that was possible. I smiled at her response.

"Just making sure. I don't want you to do anything you're not sure about." You're still in time of giving me the back and saving your soul. I wanted to say to her, at the same time as I wanted to guard these words and to remain with her for the eternity.

"I'm sure about you. The rest I can live through."

How little she knew. She believed that our lives were so easy. Of a thing I was sure, to her side everything would be easy. With her love, and with her to my side, I could go through everything, while I had her to my side. I could, but could she? Could she continue when she realized everything what she was leaving behind? Only for me.

"Can you?" I asked her in a low voice, suddenly insecurely of what we were doing, which we would in a few days. "I don't mean the wedding—which I am positive you will survive despite your qualms—but afterward… what about Renée, what about Charlie?" What about Jacob? She loved me enough, more than that dog, I removed the thought rapidly, I couldn't believe that I was thinking about him in these moments, Bella was at my side, and this way would be forever.

"I'll miss them." She answered me with a sigh. Why was I allowing my Bella to keep suffering? There was no way in this life of finding a way in which Bella and I could be completely happy, without hurting anybody else. To our happiness to be complete, with our families. I'd been fighting during all this time to find this solution and had been uselessly.

"Angela and Ben and Jessica and Mike." I asked, barely capable of saying the last name.

"I'll miss my friends, too." Bella smiled in the darkness, why would she be happy to miss them? Oh, how I wanted to be able to read at this moment her thoughts. "Especially Mike. Oh, Mike! How will I go on?"

What? I growled in full anger. How did she happen to say that?

Bella smiled, after a moment she became serious again.

"Edward, we've been through this and through this. I know it will be hard, but this is what I want. I want you, and I want you forever. One lifetime is simply not enough for me."

Yes, I knew all that perfectly. She had repeated it again and again during the last months. From that spring where the damn James almost separates her from my side forever. After realizing that neither Bella or I could live through without the other one, I gave in, and when she agreed to be my wife, I knew that there was nothing that Bella wanted more than to be with me, if she was ready to go through everything just to have what she was asking me. Marriage. The worst thing for her that I could have asked for, and she also asked of me for the worst thing. Sex. The worst thing of everything, was that at least I couldn't expect to give her something more than pleasure, she might not even be a mother some day and make me a father. The thought had been stuck in my mind since Charlie had thought that that was the reason of marrying. We would never be parents. I hated to take that from Bella also.

"Frozen forever at eighteen." I said in low voice, thinking about the same thing again and again.

"Every woman's dream come true." Bella's tone was clearly a joker. But how could she joke this way? I would never understand the way in which her brain worked.

"Never changing… never moving forward."

"What does that mean?"

My naive Bella. She wasn't even understanding to what I was referring.

I answered slowly, hoping Bella understood what I was feeling.

"Do you remember when we told Charlie we were getting married? And he thought you were… pregnant?"

Surely she did remember it, Charlie almost shot me when he believed that I had done that to her daughter. If he hated me, he wouldn't had never forgiven me.

"And he thought about shooting you, admit it—for one second, he honestly considered it." So perceptive. I had felt that Bella had felt a genuine terror when she saw what Charlie was thinking to do.

I remained without words, couldn't answer her. I was still turning over the matter. I hated the fact that I was a vampire. A soulless monster that was going to turn what more I loved into this world, in the world that I so much hated. I would never forgave myself if someday Bella regretted her stupid decision. But I was going to do everything what was in my hands for me to make her the happiest woman. I would love her every second of the rest of my existence. I swore it in the same moment. As so often I had done it before.

"What Edward?"

Just tell her. "I just wish… well, I wish that he'd been right."

"Gah." Bella almost shouted at my comment. She misunderstood me.

"More that there was some way he could have been. That we had that kind of potential. I hate taking that away from you, too." I hated myself in this moment more than never. I might wrote an endless list of things which Bella would resign, to get what? Only me. It wasn't fair.

"I know what I'm doing." Bella answered after a minute. Thinking, editing her thoughts, looking for a way of what she wanted. Trying to hide her real feelings.

"How could you know that, Bella? Look at my mother, look at my sister. It's not as easy a sacrifice as you imagine."

There was no better example than that of Rosalie's, my mother was another case. She was happy having us happy. But Rosalie, would give everything and more for returning to be human.

Oh, again my naive Bella. She didn't have the faintest idea what she was speaking about. Rosalie hated, detested this life. She was the one that was feeling worst in our world. She would had preferred dying decades ago, instead of Carlisle had saved her. Esme was more compassionate, and saw us like her children, because of it was easier for her to bear the weight of an endless life. I hated even more my cold and hard body, how I wanted to be a human being for Bella, and so she didn't to have to resign to all her human warmth, her passion, everything what I so much loved of her.

I was flying into a rage for what was Bella on the verge of doing for me. "It's not right! I don't want you to have to make sacrifices for me. I want to give you things, not take things away from you. I don't want to steal your future. If I were human—"

Bella put her warm and fragile hands on my mouth, keeping it silent about my fury's assault. "You are my future. Now stop. No moping, or I'm calling your brothers to come and get you. Maybe you need a bachelor party."

No love, it wasn't what I needed, but to be a human being for you. Impossible.

"I'm sorry. I am moping, aren't I? Must be the nerves." I decided to leave it like that, it wasn't worth discussing for anything that would never happen.

"Are your feet cold?" Ha. Colder than snow. But she didn't mean that.

"Not in that sense. I've been waiting a century to marry you, Miss Swan. The wedding ceremony is the one thing I can't wait—" Other thoughts interrupted my words, it wasn't possible! "Oh, for the love of all that's holy!" Was that late? That they had decided to came looking for myself already.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, slightly anxious for my response.

Pressing my teeth, I managed to answer her. I still had a few seconds alone at her side. "You don't have to call my brothers. Apparently Emmett and Jasper are not going to let me bow out tonight."

I had known it the whole night, hoping uselessly that they weren't doing it. As said, uselessly.

Bella pulled me towards her harder, and after a moment she gave up on me. "Have fun."

Just as that day in the cafeteria, after I had to go away early with Alice. Her resigned tone. In this moment, Emmett decided that I already had had time to say goodbye.

_Let's go, Edward! Come out. What you're waiting for?_

He decided to play a bit, doing a sound with his nails against the glass, it was screeching in such a way that caused Bella to shake.

"If you don't send Edward out, we're coming in after him!"

_Let's go, Edward. Before Emmett knocks down the house and wakes Charlie up._

Jasper was thinking, while trying to calm Emmett's anxieties. He was thrilled for celebrating my bachelor's first party.

_Come on, little brother. This one is a unique occasion. Tomorrow you're resigning to your bachelorhood for the eternity._

"Go, before they break my house." Bella was closer to the truth. So I decided to follow her advice, so much as Jasper's. Emmett was becoming more anxious every second that was passing.

I rolled my eyes, to Emmett, which continued shouting in my head for me to hurry.

_Little brother, all this time that you spend with Bella is making you so slow as herself. Hurry up!_

I gave a jump out of the bed. In a second I already had my shirt on. I inclined towards her to give her a kiss. I stopped for a thousandth of a second and change my direction towards her forehead. Bella didn't even realize it. If I kissed her in the lips, I would want more and then it would be more difficult for me to go away of her side.

"Get to sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."

"Thanks! That's sure to help me wind down." I did as I didn't hear her comment.

"I'll meet you at the altar." And then you'll be forever mine, my love.

"I'll be the one in white." Bella smiled at the way she sounded.

And I couldn't smile at seeing her smiling. "Very convincing."

I tensed my muscles on the edge of her window, seeing and listening to Emmett, at the time that I was reading Jasper, seeing how Bella was feeling. She was worrying. Or going to do so.

I jumped and fell softly on the land.

"Damn, bro! Why the delay?" _It's not as if you hadn't been going to hunt and leaving her ever._

I was on the verge of answering him, when I listened to Bella whisper. Conscious that we all could listen to her with perfect clarity.

"You'd better not make him late." I smiled at her words. Nobody, love, -I wanted to tell - anybody, would make me being late or late to our wedding. But Jasper beat me. He was in her window before realizing his movement.

_Don't worry, Edward. Only I'll assure her that everything will be okay._

He smiled in his mind at my expression.

"Don't worry, Bella. We'll get him home in plenty of time."

I felt as Jasper was using his gift in Bella. And from his mind I saw as Bella's face relaxed at his words.

"Jasper? What do vampires do for bachelor parties? You're not taking him to a strip club, are you?"

I listened from where I was and Jasper's mind Bella asking him. I wanted to laugh to her comment. Strip club? Was she serious? Bella believed that we celebrated like that. Ha. She didn't have idea that we celebrated as any other night out of house.

_Let her stress a bit over of his behavior this night. Ha, ha, ha._

Emmett thought and I was on the verge of slapping him.

"Don't tell her anything!" I gave to him the slap that I had so desired and laughed at the face that he did.

_Auch, Edward._

"Relax, we Cullens have our own version. Just a few mountain lions, a couple of grizzly bears. Pretty much an ordinary night out."

_There you have, Edward. She) won't be worrying believing that a woman will be getting undressed for you the whole night _

"Thank you." I whispered under my breath. Bella didn't have a chance to listen to myself.

"Thanks, Jasper."

_It's settled. Bella will be fine. We can go now._

Jasper thought. Then I saw him winking an eye to Bella and jumping back towards us.

"Jasper, you didn't have to ruin the surprise for Edward. Why to say to Bella what we will do?"

"Oh, please, Emmett. Indeed were you thinking that Bella would believe that we would take him strip club?"

"Not, but..."

"But nothing. You already get me out, now let's go."

_Uh, don't get mad, little brother._

"There is no hurry, you won't be able to see Bella until tomorrow evening, when comes the time of giving the I, do."

"I know , Emmett. Alice would bite my head off if I see her before."

Emmett began to laugh.

Jasper decided to intervene, relax us.

Bella couldn't have listened even a sigh. We spoke that not even the noise of our jokes could be reached by her ears.

We go out running towards Emmett's jeep. He had left it streets behind, in view of nobody. Only the trees surrounding ourselves.

I was only ten minutes out of Bella's scope and I already missed her. I was feeling the emptiness filling the place where she had been a few moments ago. My arms.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow finally will be the day in which Bella will be my wife, forever and forever, as she wanted it, and as I had wished since before Bella even considering to spend the rest of the eternity to my side.

Emmett continued playing, always so infantile. Jasper feeling my emotions, decided to send a wave of easing and some emotion. So soon enough, I felt thrilled for feasting my last night of bachelor. It was something to celebrate, that I finally had found this missing piece in my life, I never thought that I would come to the altar, much less next to an angel so perfect as Bella.

Again I felt as the luckiest man of the world. I would never stop being grateful to fate for having put her in my way. Probably there was more than one reason for which Carlisle decided to save me years ago, instead of leaving myself to die. I had never been so grateful with my father for what he had done, but on having given the opportunity to continue living in this world to me, he gave to me the best gift. To look for what I never found in my mortal years, love. And I found it without realizing myself what I was looking for. It came to me as a surprise, the best gift that the life could had given me.

Tomorrow I would seal my promise to love her for the whole eternity in front of the world, leaving them to know that Bella was mine and nobody else. That I loved her more than nothing in this world and she loved me. That I was the chosen one for her to say yes to.

Now I couldn't wait for the new day to come. Again I felt this anxiety for the minutes to pass more rapid. My perspective escaping me. I didn't care. I only wanted the time to fly on to find myself again next to my Bella.

_Soon, Edward. At a few hours you will be to her side forever._

Jasper noticed my happiness and anxiety. His words brought an indescribable peace. For a moment I knew that I could wait a few hours, later was following the eternity in front of us.

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**Review please, I almost finish the third chapter.**


	4. Chapter 3, BIG DAY

**Hi! I'm finally done with this chapter, I'm so sorry it took me a little longer. But I hadn't been able to use the computer this day. It's finally done. The wedding, the next one it's the party and you know.**

**Hope you enjoy. PLEASE review.**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWN ALL TWILIGHT!!**

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CHAPTER 3. Big Day

"So, Edward."

Emmett said with a tone that I didn't like much. It was when I read it in his mind and knew why I didn't like it. Emmett had had this doubt since I had known Bella, it was difficult for him to imagine that a relationship could be based only on love, since Rosalie and Emmett shared a very passionate relationship.

"Emmett." I said to him in tone of reproach on having listened to his thoughts.

"What's up? What are you thinking about, Emmett?" Jasper had felt the change in the atmosphere.

"Only thinking what they will do, Edward and my little sister in their honeymoon."

"Emmett, Edward's right. I don't think that it any of your business."

"Thanks, Jasper."

_Your welcome, Edward._

Still the Sun wasn't rising, Alice had waited for the perfect day to celebrate our wedding without the need to finish all wet by the rain. It's not that to us couldn't stand it, but surely the humans wouldn't like it very much.

To think about the wedding, made me remember the deal that I had done with Bella with regard to our honeymoon. Esme already had decided to borrow us an island to the west of Brazil, which Carlisle had given her years ago. We all knew that Bella preferred the heat, and it would be more suitable for us to be alone for a few days, without having to be surrounded with troublesome human. It was what Esme thought, wanted for me to enjoy as much of our honeymoon as Bella. Without anybody around us, there would be neither thoughts nor anything that distracted us. Something that I was accepting happily.

I had gone hunting with Carlisle some days after did that deal with Bella, I had asked for help and an advice to my father about what to do when the the moment came. I didn't have idea of what I should do not to hurt to Beautiful.

"Edward."

Jasper and Emmett suddenly shouted, getting me startled. Since I met Bella it was so easy to get lost in my thoughts and not to listen my surroundings.

"What's wrong?"

"You ok, bro? I was only joking with you about your honeymoon." _Sorry if I bothered you, already you know how I am._

I knew it.

"Edward, something's bothering you. I feel it. What is it?" _You can trust in us._

"I know. I was just remembering a conversation I had with Carlisle weeks ago."

"Something you could share, or is it very delicate?"

_Come on, Edward. I won't be able to sleep if you don't tell us._

"Shut up, Emmett."

"Right, Emmett. If Edward wants to speak about it, he will."

"Fine." _You better tell us, Edward._ Emmett wasn't giving up. In addition, if I thought about it well, probably my brothers might help me.

"Okay, I'll tell you."

"We listen to you, Edward." Jasper was more understandable, and wasn't eager to listen at what I had to say, as Emmett.

_About time, little brother._

"The thing is, that Bella and I made a deal, weeks ago."

_Ah?_

"What kind of deal, little brother?"

"Bella wants, well, that before turning her into vampire. Well, that we..." I couldn't finish. How to say to them what Bella wanted? But I had tot.

_What can my little sister want that you can't give her?_

"Exactly, Emmett, I can't give it to her."

_Come on, say it._

_Is it what I believe, Edward?_

"Exactly, Jasper."

"What is it? Don't keep secrets."

"Emmett, come on! What other thing would she want that Edward might not be able to give her?"

_Oh. Don't say me that..._

"Yes, Emmett. Bella wants us to make love while she's still human."

_Wow._

Even Emmett was surprised. He didn't have an idea of how surprised I'd been when she asked me for it. I still couldn't believe it.

"Edward, what did you say to her?" Before being able to answer, Emmett interrupted me. I almost strike him when I listened to what he was going to say.

"You're saying, that not only you will leave behind your bachelorhood, you'll marry and lose your virginity?"

_Indeed something to celebrate._

I didn't say anything to him. I was too much worried suddenly. To think what I was on the verge of doing. How to do it without hurting her?

"Edward. What did Carlisle tell to you?"

"Does Carlisle agree?"

What? Carlisle did not have to agree with my decision. Bella would be my wife, and I would have the whole right to yield to her demands.

Jasper felt my reaction.

"Calm down, Edward. Rather I was referring to the fact of his opinion. It's a good idea that you try while Bella's still human?"

"Leave my little brother to enjoy the kindness of the life, Jasper. It doesn't have anything of wrong."

"I know, Emmett. But she's human. And not only it might be dangerous forthwith, what if your thirst attacks you and you kill her, Edward? One loses all his sanity in that position."

"Jasper, please. I don't believe Edward could..."

"He's right, Emmett. I might kill her without even realize it." I interrupted Emmett before he continued, I had already read what he was thinking, so it didn't have any point.

"Ok, Edward. Tell us, what was what Carlisle said to you?"

"Much of what you did. That can be very dangerous for Bella. Though there is something in what I shouldn't worry."

_What is it, bro?_

"That our changes of temperaments, so rare and strong, can be a problem, but that Bella has already changed me completely. So..."

"So you have nothing of worrying. Right?"

"While I'm being careful, yes."

_Edward, you don't have idea of what you're going to do._

"No, Emmett."

"Edward, the physical relations are almost so powerful as to drink human blood. Do you imagine in the frenzy in which you will be found?"

"Then, do you believe that I should wait until Bella is a vampire?"

It's your decision. We all know that you can with the pressure. You already tasted once her blood and could stopped. Probably this isn't a so bad idea.

"Do you think?"

Emmett had become anxious at our exchange, he hated when he didn't know what I was reading in the mind of the others.

"Yes, Edward. I'm sure that it will go out well. Only don't lose your mind. Kept focused. All the time."

"Thanks, Jasper. Emmett."

_Anytime, little brother._

_Your welcome, Edward._

In this moment everything that what was necessary to say already had been said, so we returned to begin our hunt. Emmett devoured the blood of a bear, his favorite, in a just a few seconds. He ended as a savage, always happened in the same way. He fought with his prey up to the last minute. Since according to him there was nobody else to get fun. I, according to him, was cheating, Rosalie would never leave that her hair got a mess, Alice had better things to do, besides the fact that she always saw how would finish the fight, she was winning, Jasper would it do more that happily, but Esme got upset if they were fighting.

So the only thing that he still had, were the bears. I didn't see the point in fighting with your food, but he amused himself. At the end he mocked me about the way I ended up neither of the same form in which I had come, nor alone spot of dirt in my clothes. Jasper was so good as I was, though also he amused himself with the animal that he chose, he had more experience fighting to end like Emmett did.

The Sun was finally rising, Alice was soon going for Bella at her house to take her to my house and to start being working in her. Not that I was considering that Bella needed work in her to turn beautiful, for me she was the woman most beautiful who in the world had set a foot. Her alone existence was a sufficient reason for the creation of the world, since I once had thought on having seen what the others were thinking about her to my side. I was the lucky one, not she. Though she was thinking the opposite.

I was conscious that I shouldn't become anxious, Jasper would feel it and he would be sending a wave of serenity and patience towards me, not that I cared for myself him doing it, it would do me well. But apart from all of that, I knew that I shouldn't come over to Alice while she was arranging Bella, since already she had threatened me to the bite my head off if it happened to do it, she would see it before I was giving a step in her direction, and I wouldn't have time of seeing my angel. I better not take risks.

"Edward, you already know what Alice said, you can't approach the house until in three hours."

_Yes, bro. You can't yet._

"I know." I growled to their commentaries, as if I didn't know. "You don't have to say anything to me."

"Fine."

You better. Let's go and find you a few mountain lions. You must be prepared well.

"Yes, let's go hunting awhile more."

"Sure."

We went more into the forest. After a few minutes we caught the smell of a mountain lion that was giving problems to the hikers who were passing over there. After getting rid of it, because they left it to me, according to them only for being my bachelor's party, it was already the morning and they continued considering this to be a fiesta, was when only we conform with a few herbivores.

The three of us were fuller of blood of what we had never been, I already had experienced this condition, time behind, when I decided to return from Alaska, after having smelt for the first time that Bella's so tempting aroma, had hunted of more to prepare myself for our following meeting. I already neither needed to worry because of it, since Rosalie had declared those words, which were like a death sentence, on having said to me that my Bella had gone on to another life, I couldn't even think of the word, I had learned that I would never be capable of killing Bella to satisfy my thirst. I might not be able to live a second after she left this world.

There was still an hour left to be able to come to the house. The anxieties were eating me inside out, though I was trying that no one noticed it externally, I knew that Jasper could feel it anyway.

Midday was approaching of an intensive form, now I was feeling it closer and real than never before had felt it. At a few hours, Bella and I would be husband and woman. And there would be neither anything or anybody who could separate us, I was too strong to allow it, and Bella loved me too much to allow it, also. At a few hours, Bella and I would declare our love officially, in front of the whole world. In front of those that existed trying to be that one to which Bella was saying yes to, I being the winner, the luckiest man of the whole planet.

Thinking about those that were trying to be gained Bella's love, I remembered to that one that had tried to gain so often, at least my attention. My heart already was destined to Bella even before none of the two of us knew it, before she had even born. I remembered to, Tanya.

At the end, Bella had accepted that we were inviting Tanya and her sisters, I had to make her feel guilty abut her desires on not inviting them, saying to her that they were like our second family, we consider them to be cousins. Only on this way Bella had acceded. Surely she was worrying, to know her _rival_, as she considered Tanya. An absurd idea, certainly, that I couldn't extract from Bella's head. Probably when I was giving the I, do at the altar, Bella would see the reality of the things. That I loved her and no one else, which in my existence had existed someone who had the smallest attraction that I was feeling for Bella, nobody could make me turned aside my look of her beautiful and angelic face, of her smile, of everything herself.

It was bothering me that the time wasn't advancing faster, first was coming rapidly and now I was feeling that it was decelerating so as to bother me. It wasn't just the fact that I wanted that the time of saying I do to Bella came, but also I had already spent many hours far from her, I was eager to see her and to have her again in my arms, I was longing to listen to her mouth saying I do, which would make me happier. It was longing for it, and didn't see the hour of listening to it. The anxiety was catching me and I couldn't hide it any more.

_Edward? What's wrong? I feel your anxiety growing._

That was it. I couldn't bear it anymore.

"We're going."

_What? Why so early, bro?_

Early? Sure Emmett didn't care, it wasn't him the one that was marrying in a few hours. Though he already didn't care about it. How many times he had married Rosalie? How brave was my brother.

"I can't bear it any more. I know that I can't see Bella until the indicated hour. But at least I'll be near her. Let's go or I'll go alone. But I'm not staying here one more second."

"Edward, it's still very early."

I growled under my breath. They were back with that again. I didn't care if it was early or late, I was leaving at that moment. I knew that even Jasper used his gift on me, now it wasn't going to work. All my anxiety would disappear in the instant in which I was capable of listening to the valuable beatings of the heart of my Bella. It was everything what I needed, to listen to her, to her voice, her breathing, her heartbeats. Only that, to stand the last hours that were necessary to see her face, her eyes looking at mine, her smile on having seen me waiting for her, it was everything that I wanted. They weren't going to stop me.

"It's not. It is a good time."

_Edward, calm down. Have patience._

"Little brother, I still want to go after another bear."

"No, Emmett. You already hunted the sufficient as not to return in another month."

"Right. But..."

"But nothing. I'm going. Remain if you want."

"Edward..."

"Jasper, listen to me," I interrupted him before he continued, he didn't need to say anything to me, I wasn't going to change my mind. "It's almost midday, you have to go for the Bella's mom and her husband, it's an hour of driving, so we have to be back with good time. Alice won't want that anything goes out badly."

"Don't put Alice into this, you know that she's delighted with our absence, as less time you spend in the house, better for her. Fewer possibilities that you see Bella before time."

"I won't see her. I know perfectly what would pass if I approach too much."

_Oh, what the hell. Fine, little brother, I'm with you, let's go._

"Thanks, Emmett. Jasper?"

_Well. I will not be responsible for what Alice does or doesn't do._

"Of course not, I will be."

Jasper and Emmett just shook their heads. About these moments they were only thinking that I had already lost the sanity. They didn't understand what was the hurry. But I had already spend too many hours away from my Bella, and apart from wanting to see her, I wanted to have the absolute assurance that she was fine.

We got to the jeep in about minutes, it wasn't very far from where we had been minutes ago, we had been approaching during this time. I almost asked to drive myself, I was now furthermore anxious, but for another reason, it was as if my body knew that Bella would be increasingly nearer to me with every mile that we were driving, that in a few minutes I would be capable of listening to the beating of her heart, miles before arriving, I was so synchronized with the sound of her heartbeats that I could listen to it several miles of distance away.

_Edward, calm down. In a few hours you'll finally be at her side._

The thought made me more anxious, at the time that the happiness was moving for my whole body, causing that I was trembling with emotion. At a few hours I would be the husband of Bella for the whole life, I would take care and love of all her being. There would be nobody who prevented it. Nobody.

While Emmett was driving I spent myself thinking about the last two years next to my beautiful angel, remembering every instant that I had been on her side, every word that had come out of her delicious lips, every look that had allowed me inside her soul and her heart. I even remembered the moment in which my fragile Bella forgave me for having gone away of her side, the most solitary and dark months that on my existence I had experimented, and I remembered them, because in spite of being far from her, I was kept alive, thanks to her memories, the love that she had given me the months before my catastrophic decision. Bella, my Bella, the reason why I was still in this world, I had overestimated the potential that she had to love, believing that she would forget me while I would continue loving her until the last of her heartbeats. I didn't know what or who decided to put Bella in my destiny, but I knew that the best way of being grateful for it, it was loving her as nobody had loved in the history of the world. And now I would have the whole eternity to do it.

I knew perfectly how many distance the house was from the point in which we were in that moment, we were to approximately 4 miles of distance, when I listened to the sound that I was more longing at that moment, the beatings of Bella's heart. It was as she was giving me the welcome after all these hours separated. As if it was assuring that she was okay, waiting for my arrived, in the instant that I listened to her heart, I felt complete again, I felt as the half of me that I left with Bella when we were separated, was returning to me, I was complete only at listening to the pace of her heartbeats, healthy and more alive than never. How much was I going to miss them.

Jasper felt the change in my emotions, and shook his head while smiling at my reactions.

"Happy, little brother? We're already there."

"But you can't see Bella, Edward." Jasper said before that should say an alone word.

"Yes, I know." I answered to the two of them. It was clear that I was happy, more than happy. I almost jumped out of the jeep and ran in search of my Bella. I would arrive much more rapid running that in Emmett's jeep. But I knew that the fact would be useless, I couldn't see her until Charlie was bringing her from the arm to deliver her to me. So I suppressed the impulse that invaded me and was kept seated, as still as possible, because the emotion had me moving across. I focused in the beatings of her heart. Fascinating.

Finally we got to the house after a few more minutes, now I could listen perfectly to the beatings of her heart, her breathing, her words. I could listen to the thoughts of each one of the members of my family. Esme and Carlisle were waiting for us in the garage. They had listened to the noise of Emmett's jeep, a few moments ago. Esme was there to remind me that I couldn't see my Bella, as if they hadn't repeated it enough times already.

_Edward._ Esme said to me in a tone that said to me that I should look after myself of wanting to spy in the mind of Alice or Rosalie. I couldn't even if I wanted to, Alice would see me before I achieved it.

"I know, Esme. They have already said it to me."

"Jasper, Emmett. It would be good for you to go clean yourselves first. Esme wants you to help with the lacking decorations."

"Sure." The two of them answered to Carlisle. Emmett in a less serious tone, everything was taking it like a joke.

"I'll go in a second and tell you what to do, boys."

"Yes, mom."

With it, the two disappeared for the door, and went away to their respective rooms to be cleaned, and then to go down helping Esme.

I made a gesture of advancing, when Esme and Carlisle shouted me in their minds.

_Wait, Edward, son._

What did they want now? Better and to listen them, I didn't have anything more that to do for the moment.

"Yes, mom, dad? What is it?"

"Only to remind you what Alice asked us. To tell you that... "

"Don't cross with her until it's safe. I already know that I must not see to Bella before time."

"Good, Edward. Esme was only fulfilling the favor that Alice asked her."

"I'm sure she was."

"One more thing, son."

"Which, mom?"

_You also go and clean yourself and to change, in order that you help your brothers to arrange the last details._

"Immediately."

When I was about to cross the door of the garage, I listened to Rosalie opening a door, I almost could assure that it was the door of the bath in the bedroom of Alice and Jasper. It was when I listened softly to Alice's movements arranging Bella, she was very careful for not thinking directly about Bella, so I couldn't see anything not even for accident. On having listened when Rosalie was entering the door, being careful of not thinking in Bella as well as Alice, I listened as Bella's heart was hastening lightly, I didn't understand very well why. Then I listened to her to say to Alice of our arrival.

"They're back." She announced as soon as she entered the room. And then Bella's heart stopped as soon as she listened to Rosalie announced that we were home.

"Keep him out of here!" _Do you listen to me, Edward? Do not dare to come over. Believe me, you will be grateful for it to me when you see her._

"He won't cross you today." I listened as Rosalie was reassuring Alice. He values his life too much. Esme's got them finishing things up out back." _You already know, Edward. I would help Alice charmed to extract your head off._ "Do you want help? I could do her hair?"

I was already in my bedroom, but I continued listening to the words of my sisters, Bella had kept silent through their exchange. I finished in a couple of seconds, and went to the yard where the ceremony and the celebration would be realized.

Emmett, Jasper and Esme were already there.

Esme was guiding them, indicating how the chairs would be accommodated, saying to them the one who would be in every chair, for when the guests were coming they took them to their respective places.

_Edward, son, it's good you're already here._

"Yes. Only say me what I have to do and I'll start, Esme."

_Uuuhhh, Edward, I'm experiencing fear. Esme behaves worse than Alice. They want this beyond perfect._

I laughed at Emmett's thought.

Esme noticed it, and put Jasper and Emmett back to their work.

_Edward, the canopy of flowers that Alice prepared for the altar is in Carlisle's office, might you go for it, please?_

"Sure, I'll be right back."

I went off again towards the house, now I was listening as Rosalie ran her fingers through the soft hair of my angel. Brushing it. I entered to Carlisle's office, he wasn't there. I hadn't listened where he had gone, I nor listened to the sound of his car going out of the garage. So absent-minded had I been listening to what was happening in Alice's room?

I returned to the yard loading the canopy of flowers that Alice had designed personally, I had to accept, that Alice was a genius, everything was getting of the most beautiful way, Bella would be fascinated by the result. In the bottom I had been glad that Alice had begged Bella so she was allowed to organize our wedding, this was what I had had in mind since the first time, though to Bella I had given anything she wanted, even when I wasn't happy about it.

"Very well, Edward. Put it just here." Esme said to me at having entered to her sight. I did what she said to me. It was when I listened that Rosalie was coming out to the yard.

_Edward. You should be changed by now. What? Are you going to wait until everyone's coming and have to go away to be ready?_

Rosalie was beautiful, as usual. She was conscious of this fact. Her beauty was obvious, there was no way of denying it. Surely this had been the reason of the change of pace in the beatings of Bella's heart when she saw her entering the room. Knowing how Bella was feeling about Rosalie.

"Jasper?"

"Yes, Rose?"

"Alice says that it's already time for you to go for Renée and her husband to the hotel."

Ah. So that was why she was coming.

_Right, I had forgotten it._

"Yes, just now I'll set off for them."

"Good."

"Edward, didn't you listen to me?"

"Rose." Esme said her name in tone of reproach on having listened how she was speaking to me.

"I listened to you. Esme, do you need something more?"

"No, Edward." Go change now, before Bella's mom comes.

I only nodded and went upstairs to my bedroom to fulfill with her orders.

When I entered my bedroom, I went straight to the wardrobe, and took the suit of the place where Alice had told me that it would be. I took it and returned to the room. I sat down in the edge of the bed, waiting a few minutes. I was going to enjoy these moments, was going to enjoy the fact of opening the bag where was the suit, the suit that I would use to join in marriage with my Bella in a few moments. Downstairs, my family was occupied with the details that were needing in order that everything was remaining perfect. They were coming in and out and their voices were listened louder than normal, surely Bella was capable of listening to the riot. The nerves were attacking everyone, with Jasper sent off for Renée and Phil, it was normal.

Alice's bedroom was sufficiently near mine as to listen up to the minimal sigh. I listened as Alice was sliding the wedding dress on my Bella. When Alice had finished her task, I listened to Bella's heart to hasten, she was nervous, as I was suddenly. On having listened as Alice was buttoning rapidly the buttons of Bella's dress, the emotion attacked me and in a few seconds I was dressed in the suit that Alice had chosen for this occasion. I accommodated my hair running my hand through it a few times. We were ready.

I listened as Alice begged Bella not to ruin her makeup. As if she needed it to look beautiful.

"Deep breaths, Bella, and try to lower your heart rate. You're going to sweat off your new face." _I spent so much time arranging it in order that a fit of panic ruins it._

"I'll get right on that." I listened to the voice that I had been longing the most during the last hours. My Bella hadn't voiced words even once since I crossed the door of the house. It was a relief to listen to her. Everything was falling down in its place. Soon I would be able of seeing her with my own eyes.

_Now it is my turn._ Alice thought.

"I have to get dressed now. Can you hold yourself together for two minutes?"

"Um… maybe?" Answered Bella to her question. While I listened as she went out of the bath and was going directly to her wardrobe. It was when I flew downstairs, to not listen to anything more of her, giving privacy to my sister it was of supreme importance.

I stopped in front of the door, Jasper came approaching to the door with Renée and Phil besides him.

Both were fascinated by the great house of the future family of their daughter. Renée knew that our family had money, but she never imagined our house this way. The decorations for everywhere, were giving it a special touch. She was very moved, and at the same time sad, because her only daughter would marry in a few moments.

I didn't listen exactly what Renée was thinking about at the moment, the only thing that I perceived, was the emotion of the moment, she was eager to see Bella. Phil was also thrilled, he loved Bella as his own daughter. Thrilled at not having lost this familiar moment. Alice had been so attentive to the future of each of the guests of the wedding, to assure herself that none of them would be absent on the chosen day. Everything was going according to her predictions.

While I saw Renée and Phil entering the door, I listened to Alice returning with Bella. I had listened as my angel was struggling to re-establish her breathing, surely the nerves weren't leaving her, imagining what was coming, my Bella kept without overcoming her distaste at the public attention. I started walking towards my future mother-in-law, when I listened to Alice speaking with Bella.

"Alice - wow. " Bella was impressed by Alice's appearance. I hadn't seen her till now at my favorite sister, but I was sure that today she would be prettier than never. They all had waited for this day excitedly, and had prepared in such a way that it was impressing me.

"It's nothing. No one will be looking at me today. Not while you're in the room." I was almost imagining Bella's response. She didn't believe that she was as beautiful as any of us. For me, she was much more beautiful.

"Har har." Right again.

"Now, are you in control of yourself, or do I have to bring Jasper up here?" In that moment I was in front of Jasper, Renée and Phil behind him. Their thoughts a bit overwhelmed.

_Here are the parents of Bella, Charlie must not be late. I leave you with them._

"Well, I leave you with Edward."

"Thanks, Jasper." Phil said. While I was approaching to shake hands with them.

At the other side I continued listening what Beautiful was saying.

"They're back? Is my mom here?" She was eager to see Renée.

"Edward, you look very well. I can't believe that this day has come so fast."

Fast? Oh, she didn't know how slowly had seemed to me.

"I know, Renée. It's good you're already here. Bella must be eager to see you."

"Oh, yes. Alice and she are upstairs yet. It won't be difficult to find them. Go and I'll guide Phil to his place."

"Of course. Phil, we meet in a moment."

"Yes, Renée."

"She just walked in the door. She's on her way up." Alice answered when she listened what I was saying to Renée where to find them.

Renée left us to be going to find her daughter. I listened as Charlie's cruiser was arriving, with Mr. Weber. I decided to chat a moment with Phil and so I waited for them to come into the house. Only five minutes had passed when Charlie was entering the door, Mr. Weber behind him.

"Edward." Charlie said to me in tone of greeting.

"Charlie, it's so good you've arrived."

"Hello, Charlie. How are you?" Phil asked. There was no rancor, that I could feel on behalf of Charlie. So the greeting happened normally. Charlie answered the same way. Esme entered that moment, she was nervous. The time was approaching, and Mr. Weber scarcely was coming.

"Charlie, I'm glad that you're finally here. The guests are already in their places. Edward, son, you can take Phil and Mr. Weber to their places?"

"Of course, mom. This way, Phil, Mr. Weber." The two of them nodded and followed me to the yard, where, as Esme said, all the places were occupied.

As soon as I was at sight, the whispers increased. They all were. Our group of friends was small, so I could listen each of their thoughts and murmurs that were in the place, as I was sure that my brothers also could. Rosalie was at the piano, in this occasion, she would play the music for the ceremony. Rosalie was the best second musician of the family. Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper were close to the canopy of flowers, waiting for Mr. Weber and for me. I indicated Phil, where his place was, said goodbye and then Mr. Weber and I went to my family.

The thoughts that were surrounding me, were overwhelming me. One of the worst and that I scarcely was bearing were those of Jessica Stanley. She continued not believing that this one was the wedding of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, Mike's thoughts were not very different. Angela and Ben were also in their places, and when out looks met, the two smiled in my direction, while they were greeting me with the hands in the air. I smiled in return at their directions, the thoughts of both were very nice, were happy to see me happy, because at Bella they hadn't seen yet.

I kept meeting with the look of the guests, while I waited for the hour to come, which wasn't that much. Mr. Weber was already accommodated and ready to begin. It was when I looked at Tanya, who gave an enormous smile, while winking an eye. There they were, Kate, Carmen and Eleazar. All, except Irina, who hadn't accepted the invitation. After the unfortunate accident, where the wolves of La Push, had saved Bella from Laurent murdering her. For no motive I would change my opinion over the wolves, if they hadn't murdered Laurent, my angel wouldn't be here now, on the verge of joining me for the eternity.

Seth, Sue, Seth's mother, and Billy, Jacob's father, were also there. Sue wasn't comfortable at all, but for nothing of the world she would had allowed that her fifteen-year-old son should come to our house, alone. Billy, was... happy? Being in the wedding of the daughter of his best friend, of the woman of which his son was in love, marrying a vampire. Then I saw it. Jacob was back.

I didn't have time to be glad or to fly into a rage, or to grow sad. Esme was coming for the aisle with Renée to her side, if they were coming to get accommodated in their places. The hour had come. The emotion, happiness, anxiety, everything accumulated in my body in that moment, Bella wasn't late in coming down the stairs and walking towards me, to join me for the whole existence.

Esme smiled in my direction, and gave me the news that I already knew.

_Alice and Bella are coming now, son. Soon, calm down._

I smiled at my mother, grateful for her thought. In that moment Alice opened her mind, I could see everything what she saw in the moment, everything except Bella. The music began in that moment. It was time, there was nothing at that moment that could distract me, my look was fixed in the just place where I would see Bella descending until coming to me.

Alice appeared, and she was precious, was wearing a silver dress, her hair, always disheveled, in what it was possible to say, now it was arranged in curls. I listened to Jasper, to sigh at having seen his wife. He was happy feeling how Alice was feeling. As well as I listened to good commentaries I listened to envious others. Jessica was the principal one. She was dying of envy when looked at Alice appearing.

_Her dress's so beautiful! Surely it cost a large sum of money. But they're rich, it doesn't matter for them. I don't want to know all they spent to achieve this wedding. Quite of designer, surely. I already want to see Bella's dress!_

Everything was about money. Jessica wasn't thinking about another thing than the comparison between my sisters and herself. The others were admiring the beauty of my sister, of the whole family. At this moment, it was more the happiness than us that was filling us, which was making us more human, or beautiful as humans saw us, than our supernatural _beauty_.

Alice, in the five seconds that were of difference between she and the entry of my Bella, was focused in the future, making sure that my angel didn't fall. It seemed that it wouldn't happen.

I was counting the five seconds, at the same time with my Bella, surely. When Alice came to my side, she smiled and winked an eye.

_Bell's coming ... now._

In that moment, I saw her, my angel, she was in the top of the stairs, her eyes stuck at the floor, I imagined the quantity of concentration that cost her not to fall, Charlie was supporting Bella's arm strongly.

Everything else disappeared. I could neither see anything, nor listen to anything that was not my Bella.

How many times had I imagined this moment? How many times had enraged me on having imagined her walking towards the altar on Charlie's arm in her white dress, with a human waiting for her? How many times I imagined that Bella would give a yes to someone like Mike?

And who was now the one in the altar waiting for this wonderful angel to join her for the eternity?

ME. I was too much happiness, feeling that at any time, this quantity of happiness and emotion would make me explode. I never believed that I would be capable of experimenting so much on just a moment. I had been the one that Bella had said yes to. I and no one else. That wonderful and pure angel had chosen me, to never be separated of me. It had been worth waiting for seeing her in this precise moment, was the purest angel heaven had never created, and had been an envoy to me. I would never let her to go of me.

Then, Bella touched the flat surface, the aisle that was waiting for her to advance on it and to take her up to me. My angel raised the look, and when she looked and felt all the looks and the attention of the present audience, her cheeks reddened with the red intense one, which was just improving her beauty. Something that I didn't think possible. Her beauty was impossible to overcome, and she was mine.

Bella started searching for the place with her eyes for me? Her look was distracted a few seconds, seeing what Alice had done, surely Alice had left this as surprise for my angel. Her cheeks returned to redden when she met the looks of some of the guests.

I couldn't take my eyes off her face, I wasn't looking at anything but her. There was nothing at that moment that could distract me. Then, in that moment, her beautiful chocolate brown eyes met mine and I smiled in such a way that I had never done. The emotion that I was feeling in that moment was indescribable, everything what I had dreamed from the moment in which I met Bella was about to be fulfilled, was within reach of my hand. I saw in her look, that, if it had been possible, the two of us had already run to the meeting of us before time, but Charlie was keeping her arm firm on Bella's arm, and I controlled myself, with the whole personal control that I had been dominating during all these years. Only that, and to know, that Bella was walking towards me.

Those short seconds, which took my Bella to come to me, looked like an eternity, but the end always comes, and Bella was in front of me. In that moment I was back to the reality, Charlie smiled at his daughter, before placing her soft and fragile hand on my hard and cold hand. In that moment, I was back to be complete, to feeling that my heart was returning to beat, listening to the beatings of her precious heart, listening as she was breathing, her face illuminated by the happiness. My face was reflecting her emotion, and when I saw in her eyes, I looked all the way to her soul.

I felt how Bella, had had all this time the reason, not in the sense that she believed. I felt how Bella was my soul, the soul that I had lost in the moment in which Carlisle decided to give me a new life, with her I had reborn again, had given me the life that I had lost. Without her I had hell, and with her to my side, I was in the heaven.

While the minister said all the lines necessary to join us in marriage, I returned to feel like the luckiest winner in the history. Bella believed that she was the lucky one, but how could it be like that. When, which the one who hadn't had a complete and full life, was me, before Bella came to fill this emptiness, she was my soul, my heart, was the one who kept me alive.

Bella started crying minutes before it was time to accept this union. Her tears were so beautiful, so precious, that was just demonstrating the emotion and happiness that she was feeling in the moment. I was so happy as she was. I saw in her eyes that she was about to exploit of happiness when she declared those words that I had longed from my whole life, to listen to to come out of her lips. There were no words that I could use to describe that moment.

"I, do." Yes, she wanted, God! Finally, this wonderful angel was still loving me. And it was willing to everything for continuing to my side until the end of the days.

If it had been possible, I would had been crying as Bella, there was no form from which it hadn't happened from me if I had been human.

When my turn came, my voice sounded clearly, here I was winning as much as her.

"I, do." Yes, I do, I will and would want the entire existence, the whole life, even if my happiness lasted one more minute, I would never want this moment to finish. I loved her more than anybody, and here I was in front of her, in front of the whole world swearing to love her for the eternity, and I would fulfill it at the cost of everything.

Mr. Weber, finally, declared us husband and woman. At the end, all my desires and dreams were right in my face. All fulfilled. Only in spite of having her, it was everything that I wanted. I took her fragile face between my hands, softly, being careful not to hurt her. And then, her lips found mine, It didn't surprise me to feel how Bella threw herself towards me, with more emotion of the necessary, I felt her arms surrounding my neck, I felt the petals of the flowers of her bouquet, rubbing delicately the skin of my neck, the heat of her arms coming to my skin, the heat of her lips to penetrate every fiber of my being, the electrical current, returning to me, finally. After so much time, my Bella in my arms again.

After a few seconds, the audience got impatient before our exchange of love, and they began to clear their throats, and the snickers became more pronounced. My family was muffling of happiness, on seeing us finally, together for the eternity.

I had to finish the kiss before what she had wanted, but necessarily, already we would have time to enjoy each other one. When I started wanting to separate of my Bella, she stuck to me with more force, I enjoyed of a few seconds more of her love, before taking her face in my hands and separating our lips. When our eyes met again, my laugh became entertained to her response. But I was feeling how my happiness was obvious in my look. It was the same that I felt coming from her.

The audience started applauding as soon as we finish the kiss, Bella wasn't breaking the connection that we had by means of our looks, and I was wishing not to happen. I had placed our bodies of sight of our guests, at the time, Renée rushed towards Bella and took her in her arms, her face full of tears. Her thoughts were reflecting what we saw on the outside. Bella saw herself obliged to separate her eyes off of me and turned round towards her mother.

"Oh, Bella. I can't believe that you're married. Congratulations, baby!"

"Thanks, mom."

I allowed Bella's body to separate from mine, but I supported her hand strongly assured in mine. While the family, friends and other guests were waiting for their turn to congratulate us.

I couldn't imagine that the life could give me any more happiness, that the one that I was feeling in that moment.

Bella was finally mine, and I hers. For the whole eternity.

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**It comes the harder part til now.**

**REVIEW, please.**

**OK... I'm sorry, I just realized I made a mistake, the ceremony was inside the house, and I put it outside. SORRY! Hope it's not that bad. =(**


	5. Chapter 4, GESTURE

**Hi guys!! Oh my god... I'm so so so very sorry for all this time that I hadn't uploaded the fourth chapter... So sorry, really.**

**Well, but it's really here. And to make a little better the news that I'm back. On monday it'll be here the fifth chapter, it's almost over... again I'm really sory. I hope you like it. Like I said on monday it will be uploaded the next one... and if it takes me again this longer I'll upload two chapters instead of one, don't worry. It's just that I don't have internet in my house anymore. But I promise to upload the next one on monday.**

**Enjoy...**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

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CHAPTER 4. Gesture

Scarcely a few seconds had passed, since the minister had declared us husband and woman. I couldn't be happier, couldn't ask any more to the life. I had everything what I always and never dreamed to find in life, love. My Bella was to my side, where she would be forever. Not even being in the celebration of our wedding, how good it felt to say our wedding, Bella, my wife, I still couldn't believe it, it was as if I was going to awake from the most beautiful of the dreams. Only that I couldn't dream, so this had to be the reality.

I hadn't had opportunity to speak with my family calmly neither, of being grateful for like I should to my favorite sister for having organized the most beautiful of the weddings, though I was sure that If this one had been the wedding of Rosalie and Emmett, or Alice and Jasper, I wouldn't had estimated it of the same way, I only saw it this way because Bella was the bride, and I the lucky groom. In these moments they already weren't the correct adjectives, it wasn't the bride and the groom, but the wife and the husband.

We were in the back yard, Alice had given the orders to bring thousands of floral arrangements, the house was full of the delicate smell that the orange blossoms, lilacs, fresias and the roses were detaching, there was also a tent under a couple of cedars where all the guests were seated and chatting happily, some of them were doing row to congratulate us. The first ones were Billy, Seth and his mom.

I could listen perfectly each of their thoughts, Seth was really happy to be present, and very grateful of that Bella, only that he didn't know that it had been my idea, had invited them. Sue was there because there was no way of which Seth had appeared alone to our house, Billy was invited not only because of Jacob, he was practically of the family of Bella, the Charlie's best friend, so his presence was indispensable. To the surroundings I could listen to Sam's thoughts and some of the members of the pack. They hadn't allowed either that any of the three should appear without support in necessary case, after everything there was a vampires' considerable quantity in the party, apart from the Cullens.

_Thanks, men! For having invited us._

_At least they seem happy. How many vampires would they have invited? I don't like it._

_Jacob, son. Soon I'll see you. I wish you had come, though it hurts you, I know that you would be charmed with seeing Bella that happy!_

The three of them were thinking the same thing, and differently. The one that more attention I put, went to Billy's thoughts. Sam had warned him that Jacob was coming. They could already listen to his thoughts. Even I was capable of listening, by means of their thoughts. He was anxious, and sad simultaneously. But he would come, because he knew that it would make happy Bella. I didn't know how that was making me feel.

"Congrats, guys!" Seth congratulated us, and there was no another feeling in his mind. Seth and I had developed one well friendship since our fights with Victoria and Riley, he had been of great support for me and Bella. I didn't know what could have happened to Bella without Seth to our side. I'll be eternally grateful. And it wasn't important for him if I was a vampire, wasn't coinciding with the others. He had such a pure soul, which reminded me Bella.

_I am really happy for you. You're finally with Bella. I'm glad._

Seth inclined towards me to give me an embrace, and using my free arm, the other one I had it surrounding the waist of my angel. I Inclined to return the gesture.

_My God! Please don't do anything to my son._

Sue. I saw as she trembled more internally than the weak shake that crossed her body when Seth touched me. I was sure that Bella didn't miss the fact.

"It's good to see things work out for you, man. I'm happy for you. " _Indeed, Jacob will have to understand that Bella loves you, and you are the chosen one._

"Thanks, Seth. That means a lot to me. " I answered to his words and thought. I was glad that he was thinking that way. But he wasn't the only one to which I had to be grateful to. Sue and Billy had behaved themselves of marvel, considering everything what had happened. "Thank you, as well. For letting Seth come. For supporting Bella today. "

_How not to do it? She's like a daughter for me. Always has been considered of the family._

Billy was thinking. His words were honest. I didn't like that he was thinking it, I could take it in double meaning. But I knew that he meant the bow that joined him with Charlie, Bella always had been of the family of the Blacks. From always. He wasn't speaking about Jacob.

"You're welcome." _Charlie would have strangled me of not being here to support him._ That was true.

Sue was the only one of the three that didn't open the mouth to say a word. There was no need. I could see every thought that was crossing her mind. Her major worry was Seth. She) didn't have to, I never would allow that he should be in danger.

The line was starting forming with more people in it. The three noticed it, and said goodbye and withdrew to their table. Behind them Angela and Ben were waiting. They seemed so happy and in love, were thrilled of that we had invited. But how not to do it? The two of them had been the only human ones, apart from Bella, that Alice and I had made a good friendship through high school in all these years with. The two of them were very good persons, so noble hearts, which I even like to have access to their minds. They were very calm and full of peace.

_Ay, Bella looks so beautiful. Her dress is charming. And the perfect touch, it's to her side. They seem so in love. Their wedding. They must be so excited._

_I wish someday Angela and I come to this level! Edward and Bella. Who would had imagined it?_

"Oh, Bella. You look beautiful! Both." I smiled at Angela, and denied with the head.

"There is nobody in this reception that deserves to be compared with Bella. Not even myself. " It couldn't truer.

_So chivalrous._

_They seem genial together. Mike has to to be dying of the envy._

Ben was far from being wrong. Mike was like that.

"Thank you very much, Angela, Ben. For having come." Bella was grateful to Angela, after her cheeks had reddened, making Bella more beautiful than before.

"Yes, Edward. Thank you for inviting us."

"No, you don't have anything to be grateful for. It's good to have you here."

"That's true. Thank you." Bella thanked them again.

"Well, I wish we could chat more. But the row waits. Congratulations again!"

"Thanks, Angela. Ben.

The two of them said goodbye, letting come to the parents of Angela who were waiting behind them. The conversation with them didn't last any more than with Angela and Ben. When the parents of Angela retired and let the following ones in the row. Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton. I had to exercise a great personal control not to break the neck of the vile of Mike, his thoughts simply were disgusting. I couldn't believe that he still had the courage to have this class of fantasies on my Bella. She was a married woman, and nonetheless, saw her as if she was his. Even when I had her securely seized of the waist with both arms in that moment. I wanted to run and to take her away from his dirty look.

_Wow. Bella, Bella, Bella. If she looks this good, with this enormous dress on it, I don't want to imagine, what am I saying? Yes I want to imagine the body that is hidden behind. To think that freak will have it only for him..._

I tried with all my forces in relaxing on the thoughts of the guests. Alice should had seen something because at once she shouted at me to calm down. I tried. As if it wasn't enough to listen to his dirty fantasies on my wife, I still had to listen to the envy ones of Jessica, and other fantasies that they were not including Bella in them, but to me. What a couple were this two. I only opened my mouth to say thank you for education and let Bella to answer to their conversation. Luckily, they went away after a few minutes.

Behind there were Tanya and her family, which were counting the seconds to come to us. They were thrilled of knowing the woman who had gained my heart, after so many unsuccessful attempts of ... someone else.

_Edward!_ Tanya shouted before coming to us. She did it with more emotion than the one that showed loudly. Her) sisters didn't see very well her emotion. They had never agreed with Tanya harassing me, and insisting that I should accept her. They were a bit more reasonable, and they realized that I might not have anything with their sister. Tanya wasn't accepting it. And even being in my wedding, she continued without agreeing, or to understand how had I preferred a human instead of her.

She, better than nobody had to know. Though I hadn't fallen in love with Bella, for the same reasons that they were looking for the human men. I neither loved Bella for the sex, even I nor had had intentions of trying it but if it hadn't been because she demanded that we had it to accept my offer of marriage. I still didn't know if I would be capable of managing to give her that pleasure, without killing her, or at the most, without hurting her.

I felt as Beautiful contained the air when she saw Tanya and her sisters approached to congratulate us. I knew perfectly what she was thinking. She was going to know her _rival_, since I so often had listened to her to think about her. Bella didn't have rival, much less comparison. Silly Bella in believing that someone in this universe might attract me in any form.

Tanya's thoughts, weren't resigned. I knew that Tanya was only coming to the wedding, for seeing me, and Bella, to see the human that I had preferred instead of her. Though this was her principal reason to be here, was also happy to see me happy, after so often seeing me depressed or simply strolling thereabouts. There was a significant change from the last time that she had seen me, that day I had been fighting against my desire to come back home, thinking which would be the consequences for Bella with my return. Having returned was making me happy at that moment.

Tanya was in front of me in that moment. She rushed emotionally towards me, content of meeting after two years of having been in Denali for the last time.

"Oh, Edward, I've missed you." She said to me when I let her go, and I only supported an arm on her shoulder. I had to maneuver to get away from her embrace. I didn't want to seem rude. Indeed I was glad to see her. But of whom I wanted to be embraced with was of my Bella. And the intentions, as always, were not simply friendly. Tanya wasn't giving herself defeated. It was something awkward. I didn't allow that the emotion should appear in my actions or in my face. Bella was observing carefully each of them.

"It's been too long, Tanya. You look well."

_Oh, Edward. You too. Better than never._ And her mind got lost again in fantasies. Is it that she wasn't giving up? No, I already knew it.

"So do you." She answered aloud, luckily didn't say the second part.

_So this is Bella? Well, she is pretty, though..._

I tried not to listen what she was thinking. I didn't like to see in the mind of the others that thought that my Bella wasn't sufficiently good for me. The case upside-down. I wasn't for her. But nonetheless, here we were, the two of us.

"Let me introduce you to my wife." I decided that this was the perfect moment to call my Bella, as what now she was, my wife. Only mine. Only God knew all that I had fought against everything to win her heart, her love. She had chosen me, it was everything what mattered. Finally mine. I couldn't ask for anything else to be happy. I was with her, it was what I always had dreamed since I knew that I was in love with her. She and nothing else. "Tanya, this is my Bella."

I looked through Tanya's mind, since Bella was looking at her fixedly. Her face was showing a bit of worry. She continued being afraid of that moment. How could she, when she had me to her side assured for the whole eternity?

Tanya, also was observing her. Thinking what had I seen in Bella, that she didn't have.

Then Tanya took Bella's hand. My angel didn't seem to worry about this fact. She didn't have to. She was really happy because I had finally found what I was looking. Once I had said to her, that she was too good for me. The fact is that I didn't feel anything for her, how could I have been good for her, when I did not want her?

"Welcome to the family, Bella. We consider ourselves Carlisle's extended family, and I am sorry about the, er, recent incident when we did not behave as such. We should have met you sooner. Can you forgive us?"

_Indeed we feel it, Edward. Especially that Irina hasn't come. You're more of a family of us that what it could have been that Laurent._

I knew it perfectly. I nothing was reproaching them. Tanya would had helped us with our problem if it hadn't been because Irina refused.

"Of course, it's so nice to meet you." Bella said to Tanya, breathless. She still wasn't recovering it. Probably wasn't even recovering of the fact that she had just known the clan Denali. But she only had been presented to Tanya. The others had been kept to the margin. Checking how Bella reacted on having known the, principally Tanya. I knew that Bella was charmed with knowing them, and regardless, that they were here.

"The Cullens are all evened up in numbers now. Perhaps it will be our turn next, eh, Kate?"

Tanya was imagining as our family was complete, we all had now a couple which living and to pass our days for the rest of the eternity with. She was imagining as our family and hers would have joined officially, if I had accepted her.

Kate was thinking the same thing that Tanya, but imagining that this were her sister's thoughts.

"Keep the dream alive," She said to Tanya, while rolling her eyes. _It might happen. Who knows?_ Then, she took Bella's hand that was still in Tanya's. "Welcome, Bella."

_I'm happy for you, Edward. Indeed it has made you seem better to be with Bella. I still remember when you came to our house two years ago..._

It was difficult to see those images, to remember how it had tormented me that I had left my family to escape as a coward from the temptation. But it made me happy also, to see my change. Since Bella had been the causer of this, of giving me the major possible happiness.

"I'm Carmen, this is Eleazar. We're all so very pleased to finally meet you."

_Congratulations, you can see she loves more of the imaginable, Edward._

"M-me, too," Bella answered stammering. Nervous, it was normal.

_I believe that we better give step to other guests._ Tanya thought when she looked back at some of the guests who were waiting for the Denali to go away.

"We'll get to know each other later. We'll have eons of time for that!" Tanya said. While she was smiling and saying goodbye, to let the others congratulate us. They retired and went to sit down to their table.

Other guests were a people that neither Bella or even knew personally. The chief of Charlie and his wife, the parents of some of our classmates, among other persons. They all had their opportunity to chat with us. Though what I more was wishing was to be with Bella. But it was necessary to fulfill the standards. My family didn't need a turn, we already would have time to chat calmly, like with Bella's family.

All the thoughts were centering in Bella and me. They were thinking how we looked together, how the bride was shining in her beautiful wedding dress, how the groom's family looked, it was obvious that this day they looked better than ever, Alice had never considered for anything the money. Bella's dress hadn't been designed by a recognized designer, but each of our suits were. Alice would never allow us to use anything that wasn't in vogue. It didn't matter for anybody else than what my little sister did, probably Rosalie.

When it finished the persons' line that were waiting to congratulated us. Alice shouted in her mind, it was time of the photos, and everything else. She was thrilled, she already had everything in the table, my brothers, my parents, my sister and Bella's family.

_Edward, it's time! It's time!_

Bella hadn't realized what was expecting for her, she hated the attention and was on the verge of being the central area of my sister. There was no way of escaping.

"Bella!" She said in tone that revealed all her intentions. Immediately Bella became tense, she didn't know what was coming, but for sure had an idea.

"Alice, what is it?" She asked, a bit worried by what my sister wanted.

"It's time of the photos and cut the cake! Let's go! Edward, help me. You have to do it."

"I know, and I'm sure that Bella also. Don't worry, we're going now."

I rolled over to see Bella, and her eyes were begging. But I knew that there was no way of escaping of what was coming. My sister was mad for the photos that she would extract and this way assemble an album of photos. And it wasn't everything what she had planned. Though her ideas weren't just hers, it was what was done normally in a wedding.

_But now, Edward Cullen. It's time._

"Yes, Alice. Bella, love, we don't have another option."

I smiled at her expression and indicated her with a hand that we should follow Alice. I put my arm around her waist and we walked behind Alice.

Alice had hired a photographer in order to take photos of the ceremony and the reception. We took turns, the first photos were of Bella at my side, made us come all over the place. We end in the table where the cake was, it was too big, Alice always tended to exaggerate. After she was satisfied by the number of photos of the two of us, the family of Bella, Renée and Phil surrounded us for another round of photos, Bella took some with her parents, and with each of them separately, the same thing happened with me and my family. And the last one, the one Bella more enjoyed, was in where both families were together. Bella was blinded after so many flashes shining around us.

I almost strangled Alice when she said to us what was coming, we were going to cut the cake and each one had to eat our part. I hadn't been aware of it. But, again, it wasn't the first time that we had to pretend to eat. After having bedaubed our faces with the cake, laughing a moment of the situation, I had to swallow the piece that was mine, while my angel looked at me with big eyes, surprised by what I was doing. It wasn't the first time, I thought, but it was the same expression that she had seen two years ago, when she asked me if what I would do if I had to eat in front of someone, and I had to try a slice of pizza.

Then Bella had to stand in the middle of the dance floor, with all the eyes of the presents in her, to throw her bouquet of flowers among the hands of all the spinsters of the party. I knew before it happened that would be in Angela's hands. Good at least Ben wasn't scared, almost glad.

Ultimately there came the time in which I had to take from her the garter of the leg of my Bella, which she very nicely lowered it almost up to the height of her ankle. I decided to approach slowly, and when I was sufficiently near her leg, inclined my head and with the teeth I lowered it totally up to being out of her soft and warm leg. I had never been so near her glorious legs, not with my teeth. I was feeling as the heat was vibrating from every fiber of hers, didn't want to separate me, but it was necessary. During the time that happened this, my brothers didn't stop howling with laugh. Shouting in their minds what I had to do.

_Come on, little brother! A bite won't do anything to her._

_Edward, you have to have a good sight._ Jasper said to me while feeling every emotion that was crossing me.

I saw through them as Bella had blushed with my actions.

When I took the garter between my hands, a entertaining thought came to me. That was everything what would have from my Bella. The rest was mine.

_No, Edward! _Alice shouted at me before doing it, when she saw my decision.

I winked an eye to Bella, and threw the garter directly in Newton's face. His thoughts were angered. And it was making me feel better. Yes, everything what you would have.

_Damned! How much I hate him. He dares to presume me in the face that Bella is his. Why did you have to choose to him?_

Mike was continuing with the red face from the anger, when the music began and was our turn to begin the first dance. The first dance with Bella as my wife.

I took Bella between my arms, and we went to the center of the dance floor to begin. It surprised me much that my angel neither was grumbling or even complaining that we had to dance. But in that moment she seemed to be happy to do it. Thing that also surprised me. Bella hated to dance. Even though we began the dance, with my angel in my arms, the flashes continued everywhere. Guarding for the memory every moment. Neither my family or much less I needed them. I would remember that day and every second of it for the whole eternity. The day in which Bella turned finally into Mrs. Cullen, my wife. It seemed that my angel was enjoying the party. And I couldn't avoid make her speak anymore. Though I was happy of just having her in my arms. I wanted to listen to her voice. I leaned on her ear to whispered my words softly.

"Enjoying the party, Mrs. Cullen?" It felt so well to call my Bella that way. She already wasn't any more Bella Swan, but Bella Cullen. As it would be forever. How lucky I felt.

How was an angel like my Bella submitting to a monster like me? It already didn't matter, I loved her too much to wonder in those moments why I had been the chosen one. The only thing that mattered, is that I would go on the rest of my days to the side of this beautiful angel.

Bella laughed before answering me. "That will take a while to get used to." She said to me, referring to being called Cullen, surely. There was no problem with it.

"We have a while." I reminded her. My voice filled of emotion with the truth of my words. I kissed Bella without worrying about anything in the moment. Now neither Bella or I didn't even have to worry about the time. Soon she would be a part of my family for the rest of the eternity. I didn't get tired of remembering it. We continued dancing silently, I had Bella closer to me, I listened when Charlie's steps were approaching towards us. He wanted to dance, or rather chat with his daughter, he wasn't better than Bella for the dance.

When the song ended. Charlie approached me and put his hand on my shoulder, to call my attention. He asked me to allow him a dance with his daughter. I yielded my place to my father-in-law, and went to Esme. As soon as she had seen Charlie to go towards us, she spoke to me to go with her. Carlisle was chatting with some of the guests. And she wanted to speak with me.

"Esme, do you allow me?" I asked her, when I came to her side.

_Of course I do, son._ She said to me while she nodding with the head.

We started dancing. I saw several times as Bella put her eyes on us. Thinking, probably in the way we were dancing, since she and Charlie were just moving from side to side. None of them good to dance. We spent a few seconds silently, waiting for Esme to break the silence. Her eyes never stopped seeing my face. And in her mind I saw how she was reading each of my expressions and smiles. She had never seen happy before.

_I'm so happy, Edward. For you, son. I told you that this would have to work. Do you remember?_

Esme repeated the last question loudly. In order that someone didn't see strange that I was the only one speaking and she being silent. After everything, we were surrounded by curious eyes.

"Do you remember?"

"Yes, mom. I remember it as if it had been yesterday." I said to her with a great smile spreading in my face, Esme smiled also.

_He looks so happy. It was about time, that our Edward found the happiness._

"Stop, mom. You'll make me blush." I joked like I did that day.

Suddenly Esme's thoughts became melancholic. A bit sad, she was thinking in that Bella and I would want to live alone for a while, since we were newlyweeds. Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett lived occasionally far from us, she was thinking that we would like the same thing for a time, and it was making her sad. I was the only one of her children that had never left our house to live far from the family.

"Esme, it only would be for a short time. Besides we will be in Alaska, at least the first year. Bella will be new in our life. It can't be another way."

"I know, son. It's just that nonetheless it makes me sad."

"You'll come with us. Why do you get like that, Esme?"

_Ah, Edward. But later? Bella will be controlled after one year._

"Esme, let's worry about that later. What do you think?"

Esme smiled and agreed with the head.

After another song, Esme asked me to leave the dance, she wanted to go with Carlisle, who already was waiting for his wife. We chatted a moment. My father was so happy as Esme.

"Son, everything goes marvelous. And you can see that Bella is also delighted."

_Congratulations! We said to you that at the end everything would go out well._

"I know. But we owe everything to Alice, if it wasn't for her, Bella and I would be in Las Vegas."

In that moment, Alice and Jasper approached.

_Thank you, thank you. I know that everything is thanks to me. To think that you nearly convince Bella of going to a chapel to Las Vegas._

I smiled at my sister. She was right. It would had never made me so happy to be in Las Vegas, that to celebrate our love opposite to the whole people, to announce to the world that I loved this wonderful being, and that she had chosen me. But it didn't matter, because the only thing that I wanted was that Bella became my wife. And this way she was now.

_Let's dance, Edward. You owe a dance to me this night._

"Sure. Do you allow us, Jasper?"

"Certainly."

"I'll be right back, Jazz." Alice said to him while stretching on her feet to give a kiss to her husband.

"Thanks, Alice. Really. For everything, not only for the wedding. But for everything what you've done for me."

_You're welcome._

"I always knew that this would happen. From before Bella was with you."

"Yes, yes. You have repeated it to me for two years. Nonetheless, thank you."

_Bella seems to be genuinely happy, of being here. In spite of hating parties._

"That's right. Even when she has to dance with half of the guests."

"Don't worry, Edward." _You will be with her in what two songs and half last._

Two songs and half? I couldn't see the reason of why Alice had seen it. Why not two songs or three? I didn't have idea but I didn't like it.

"Alice."

_I told you not to worry._

"I don't. It's just that I don't understand."

_Edward. Stop._

"Well." I said to her obstinately. While I was centering in reading the thoughts of each one of the persons who were dancing with my Bella. I saw her through their eyes. Bella didn't look very comfortable, it seemed that she wanted to stop. But why? She hadn't had problems dancing with me.

We continued dancing, for few more minutes, then I realized the one who was supporting my Bella. Mike. And I understood why Alice had seen that I would be with Bella in what two songs and half lasted. Thirty seconds hadn't passed, when I was stopping my sister to be going to remove the idiot of Newton from the arms of my Bella.

_Don't get upset. Don't rip his arm off, Edward._

I didn't even turn back to answer to my sister, but I saw that she had a vision of me, and a complete Mike, with his two arms. I didn't know how I was going to be able to not kill him in that moment, his thoughts about Bella were beyond disgusting.

How could he see the women thereby? Only she saw them as toys, as something that to use awhile and to go for another one. He would never have the opportunity to even dream of having my Bella. First I would kill him, though once I had thought that he was better for my Bella than myself.

"Still not that fond of Mike, eh?" Bella asked me while I at the most possible was removing her from him and his dirty thoughts. He didn't have idea of all that I hated him in that moment.

"Not when I have to listen to his thoughts. He's lucky I didn't kick him out. Or worse."

He was lucky. Only for the fact that supposedly I wasn't capable of listening what he was thinking about my wife. Because if he knew I could, he hadn't even been a guest.

"Yeah, right." There there was again that tone, which was saying me that I was exaggerating, that she wasn't as beautiful as I believed or interesting, or the best woman that this world had known.

"Have you had a chance to look at yourself?" I asked her sweetly. Was it that Bella hadn't looked herself in a mirror before going out of the house. She looked more beautiful than never. Even when all that makeup was covering every pore of her naked skin. Her face always had been perfect, she would never need all this quantity of products for the skin. She was perfect in the whole extension of the word.

"Um. No, I guess not. Why?"

"Then I suppose you don't realize how utterly, heart-breakingly beautiful you are tonight. I'm not surprised Mike's having difficulty with improper thoughts about a married woman. I am disappointed that Alice didn't make sure you were forced to look in a mirror."

I was. I would have to speak with her about that little detail. Or she probably had already seen it and there was no reason to do it.

"You are very biased, you know." Again with the I don't believe you. How did she believed that my family and those of my kind could be compared with the natural beauty of her face, of her skin, her eyes, everything what was attracting me to her?

In that moment I remembered that in my attempt for removing her from Mike, we had gone opposite to the house, and the windows were serving as gigantic mirrors, reflecting the party. Bella might see how really beautiful she was shining that night.

I sighed, and turned her towards the house.

"Biased, am I?" I asked her. Bella continued looking at the mirror. I believed that for a moment her eyes settled on me. But later she realized her own reflection, and I almost was sure that to she finally believed what my words had said to her for the last two years. How beautiful she was.

_Hey, bloodsucker._ I became rigid on having listened to those thoughts. Jacob. _Sorry. Edward._

_Could I see Bella, only a moment? I'm here at the edge of the forest._

"Oh!" I relaxed as soon as I listened to his thoughts. He only wanted to greet Bella and to congratulate us. It was hurting him, of course. But he already had accepted that Bella didn't choose him, but to me. It made me happy to listen to it.

Then I smiled widely, lowered my look towards Bella, and her expression was confused. She didn't understand my reaction.

"What is it?" Bella asked, she continued without understanding what had happened.

"A surprise wedding gift."

"Huh?"

I took again Bella in my arms, and we started dancing again. But now I went to the opposite side from where we were. Jacob was waiting at the other side. Bella didn't have opportunity to ask what it was that was happening. The lights started dimming while we were entering to the forest. Alice had worried when she saw us moved away, she couldn't see anything. But she felt assured when Jasper told her to calm down, that everything was fine. My emotions were calm, serene, so Alice calmed down a bit.

Jacob was near a cedar to a few meters. Now I could listen perfectly to the thoughts of the wolves around.

_Thanks, Edward. For bringing her, and this way to be able to speak with her._

He didn't have anything to be grateful for. Bella would be happy to see Jacob, and I might never be capable of denying something to my Bella that for sure would give her complete happiness. How to do it?

"Thank you," I said to Jacob while looking at him directly to the eyes. "This is very… kind of you."

I didn't know if there was another way of describing his behavior.

_Sure, sure._

"Kind is my middle name, Can I cut in?" Jacob answered. I saw as Bella's hand flew towards her throat. Surprised by the voice that was speaking from the darkness. I listened and felt the air that was flying when she moved her hand. I felt Beautiful lost a bit of balance, probably she would had fainted from the surprise and the emotion.

"Jacob!" She seemed doubtful that it really was him here. "Jacob!" I hated to listen to that name to come out of her lips, from that night that she had slept in his arms. But I controlled myself. There was no way of which I would make her an unhappy person in that moment.

"Hey there, Bells." Jacob answered to Bella.

My Bella staggered a bit when trying to find Jacob listening to his voice across the darkness. I supported her from the elbow not allowing her fall down. Until Jacob's hands reached her and supported her. I gave up my Bella, and it hurt me to be removed from her, to allow her to be in Jacob's arms. He put his arms around my Bella, and she embraced him, burying her face in Jacob's chest.

_Thank you, to allow her to see me, Edward._

I just inclined my head. I couldn't extract the words out of me. It was painful to see her of that way in the arms of him. To see her to cry of happiness because he was here. I knew that I had to give them a moment of privacy. So I decided to leave them in that moment.

"Rosalie won't forgive me if she doesn't get her official turn on the dance floor."

I started moving away, walking slowly, listening to the words that they were speaking in my absence.

"Oh, Jacob. Thank you." Now she was crying. So much was it that thrilled her for him to be here?

"Stop blubbering, Bella. You'll ruin your dress. It's just me." _You'll ruin your pretty face. I don't care about your dress._

Jacob wasn't trying to be educated, to control very much his thoughts. But I controlled myself. Bella is happy to see him. I was repeating myself again and again.

_Oh! So everything had been imperfect until he decided to appear in our wedding? Brilliant!_

Why can't she just kick me out?I could arrange it.

"Yeah—the party can start. The best man finally made it."

"Now everyone I love is here." God! I knew that Bella loved me more. But just the fact of knowing that she loved him also, was making my heart ache of an indescribable form.

I tried not to listen what was coming. In that moment I appeared to the edge of the dance floor.

_Edward? Everything fine?_ Esme and Alice asked me. I murmured under my breath.

"Yes, it is. He's just Jacob."

_Jacob? It explains why I didn't see it come._

"That's right."

I was sure that they could listen perfectly each of my words. Only the vampires and wolfs present.

Emmett had stopped dancing with Rose since they saw us going towards the forest. All my family had met in the table.

I came to them, and Rosalie only shook her head for what I had just done. Though the wolves had helped us this summer, she would never accept them.

_You're an idiot, you know? Why do you leave her alone with him? You should have traversed it._

I ignored her thoughts.

"Do you want your dance or not?" I asked the least cutting to her that I could.

_You're never going to change. Because of it you almost lost her._ Auch. That hurt.

"Yes or no?"

"Of course I do. As you said, I would never excuse you if I didn't have my official dance with you. Let's go. "

I nodded with the head and we move away slowly, again towards the dance floor.

Indeed I am sorry, Edward. I couldn't see about what she was talking. She wanted to have a normal conversation.

"What you're talking about? " I asked her honestly confused.

"For everything what I've done, how I've behaved. You don't deserve it, neither you or she. You are my brother, regardless. "

"Thanks, Rose. And there is nothing to excuse."

"There is. But it makes me very much happy, more than that you can imagine to see that you finally found someone who makes you happy after all this time."

She sounded honest. Besides I didn't see reason for which she would want to lie. Rosalie didn't really care what we thought about her.

"Thanks."

"Close enough. But enough about me. You're the star today." We listened attentively to what they were speaking. I knew it because I was listening to the conversation through Rose also. "I bet you're just loving that. Center of attention."

"Yeah. Can't get enough attention."

"Bella, she doesn't change, right?"

I laughed to her comment. It was true.

"It is."

"I'll give them this much, they know how to throw a party."

"Agh. I don't stand that dog."

I only sighed, I didn't want to answer, I knew that they all could listen each of my words.

We continued dancing a few minutes more, until the song ended. I listened to Jacob to ask my Bella for another song and she offering him all those that he wanted.

_She doesn't think before speaking._ Rosalie was thinking, and in this occasion I gave to her the whole reason. All those that you want? And what about me?

Then a thought crossed his mind. He was dying of curiosity to know all the beatings still had her heart. But didn't know how to do it.

"It's not tonight, Jacob." We heard Bella told him.

_He shouldn't be speaking about it. It's not his business._

Rosalie was thinking really troublesome. It was also bothering me. Immediately Jacob felt a relief on having listened to her words.

"When?" He asked my Bella and I wished that Bella didn't answer anything to him.

_Don't tell him, don't do it._ We all were thinking.

"I don't know for sure. A week or two, maybe." Why so long? Jacob was thinking, wasn't understanding why we would wait to change her. Though he was happy to hear that.

In that moment I listened to Tanya approaching. _Tanya doesn't give up._ Rosalie thought, stopping the dance to give a chance to Tanya. I avoided to do a grimace to her thoughts.

"Rosalie, do you allow me a dance with Edward?"

"Sure, Tanya. It is the last opportunity that you will have to have him in your arms."

"Thanks, Rose." Tanya ignored her comment.

_Have care with where she puts her hands, Edward._

I sighed, please, shut up Rosalie. I thought imploringly.

_So..._ Tanya began, but I got absent-minded when I listened what was happening in that moment between Bella and Jacob.

"You'd rather spend it how? Playing checkers? Ha ha." What did I miss? How should she spend what?

"Very funny." Why was Bella so troublesome? Damn!

_What happen, Edward?_

"Nothing at all, just that I don't know what's Jacob talking about."

"That dog?"

I only nodded with the head, while straining for finding the response in Jacob's head.

Only I agreed with the head, while I was straining for finding the response in Jacob's head.

It was when I saw it and listened to it. "Kidding, Bells. But, honestly, I don't see the point. You can't have a real honeymoon with your vampire, so why go through the motions? Call a spade a spade. This isn't the first time you've put this off. That's a good thing, though, don't be embarrassed about it."

So that was about. The honeymoon.

"I'm not putting anything off," Beautiful answered him sharply. "And yes I can have a real honeymoon! I can do anything I want! Butt out!"

I listened how they stopped dancing. Jacob had frozen with her words.

"What? What did you say?" Jacob asked her between pants. He didn't believe to what he had just listened.

"About what… ? Jake? What's wrong?" Beautiful wasn't understanding that Jacob has just understood the meaning of her words.

"What do you mean? Have a real honeymoon? While you're still human? Are you kidding? That's a sick joke, Bella!"

¡Damn, Bella!

"I said butt out, Jake. This is so not your business. I shouldn't have… we shouldn't even be talking about this. It's private—"

Too much late to change conversation. Ah, Bella.

Jacob then lost the reason. He was desperate to make Bella understand what I so often had tried to do. I saw as his hands were going to the shoulders of my Bella and it was beginning to hold her with more force of the necessary one. He was going to hurt her.

"Ow, Jake! Let go!" Bella said to him. But he wasn't listening.

"Bella! Have you lost your mind? You can't be that stupid! Tell me you're joking!"

I couldn't see in his mind that he was recovering the sanity.

"Forgive me, Tanya." I said to her sharply, and moved away. I murmured to my family, which already was listening to what was happening. "Kept here. Nothing will happen. I'm on my way."

"Jake—stop!" It(He,She) was hurting her. I saw as the wolves they were approaching rapidly, to avoid any incident.

_Damn you! I will kill you Edward Cullen. Damn bloodsucker. You're going to kill her. No, first I will kill you. Do not dare to touch her!_

"Take your hands off her!" I demanded Jacob. Or I will be who kill you. I listened behind Jacob to Sam and others of the wolves growled at my presence.

"Jake, bro, back away," Seth was begging Jacob. He better listened to him. "You're losing it."

"You'll hurt her, let her go." Seth was still begging Jacob to let go of Bella. The dog wasn't listening to reasons.

"Now!" I told him panting. He was hurting her. I could see the pain in Bella's eyes. His hands were exercising so much force that I could see how it prevented the blood to flow.

_Control you, you don't want to hurt her._ He was repeating himself again and again.

Then he let fall his hands to his sides. And Bella felt relief, immediately my hands replaced his, the cold would help if it was hurting her.

Jacob's thoughts were fuller of hatred of what they were never. He wanted to kill me as he should, but he wasn't thinking about the fact that I was a vampire, but that I was to Bella's side, and in what she had said to him a few moments ago to make him to lose control.

He still wasn't calm, it was worrying me that Jacob was phasing having Bella so nearby, even Seth, who was to his side trying to calm him. Sam and Quil entered that moment, taking care of the situation, to no get out of control.

"C'mon, Jake. Let's go." _Please, please. Listen to me Jake. You're going to hurt someone._

Seth continued begging Jacob to leave. Jacob was too much out of himself, to leave for his own will. His mind continued thinking about only one thing: to kill myself.

"I'll kill you," His eyes focused only in me. There was nothing else in his mind that the uncontrollable wish of killing me, of finishing with me in that same moment. His words scarcely were a sigh, the fury wasn't leaving him to be himself. He was suffocating with the desires of killing me, but he didn't see the way of doing it. "I'll kill you myself! I'll do it now!"

He started trembling with an almost compulsive way, he was on the verge of phasing, he would hurt someone.

"Seth, get out of the way." I said to Seth, when Sam growled sharply, believing that my words were meaning that I wanted to attack Jacob. He didn't like to where the situation was going, even so he was wrong. If Seth was so near to Jacob he would get out injured.

"Don't do it, Jake. Walk away. C'mon." The only thing in his mind was myself. So he didn't even realize that Seth was pushing him, removing him from Bella and me. Sam realized what Seth was trying to do and joined him to help. He put his snout on Jacob's chest and started pushing him. Between Seth and Sam managed to remove Jacob. Until I was sure that Bella couldn't see them anymore. Quil kept at sight and Bella whispered him.

"I'm sorry," _Sure._ The wolf thought. I decided that it was time to abate Bella.

"It's all right now, Bella." I assured her, I knew she would blame herself for what just happened.

_Hey, you, bloodsucker. Would Seth be fine, if coming back?_

His look was full of hatred. Not the same hate Jacob felt toward me. But the natural one that existed between vampires and wolfmen. So I answered as cold as he had talked to me in his mind. I just nodded once in his direction.

_Good._

With that he turned around and followed into the darkness where the others had gone. I could still hear Jacob hadn't calmed down. Sam and Seth and the others were trying to keep Jacob from getting out of their hands and tried to come back to us.

My had been close to the action. They had gotten worried, and if something had gone wrong, they already would be here. But Alice had seen that Bella and myself would be back there soon.

"All right," So there would no more problems. What else could it be? "Let's get back." I told her turning towards her. I still saw something like worry in her eyes.

"But Jake—" Jacob. He had gone. But I knew what she meant.

"Sam has him in hand. He's gone." The truth was that he was still trembling with fury. As soon as he was in La Push, he would let him phase. Maybe hearing all those voices in his head he would calm down, and would rather be alone, as human.

"Edward, I'm so sorry. I was stupid—" Had she had to blame herself always for Jacob?

"You did nothing wrong—" That was true. It hadn't been wrong what she said, but neither the right.

"I have such a big mouth! Why would I… I shouldn't have let him get to me like that. What was I thinking?"

"Don't worry." I said touching her face lightly. "We need to get back to the reception before someone notices our absence."

It had been more than ten minutes since I had been seen dancing with my Bella, and a few more since I left Tanya in the middle of the dance floor to get into the forest. Our absence hadn't been noticed in a strange way. Surely the guests were looking for us with the eyes, that day we were in the spotlight.

"Give me two seconds." Bella asked me. To recover her breath, and calm her nerves, for sure.

"My dress?" She asked me a little worried, I suppressed my laugh of her expression. The amusement was out of place. I couldn't get out of my head the scene we'd just seen. Thinking about the why Jacob had gotten that way. I should had let him kill me, for just even considering being with Bella while she was still a human.

"You look fine. Not a hair out of place."

Bella took two deep breaths, and her face relaxed. "Okay. Let's go."

She really seemed relaxed, so I believed her. I put my arms around her waist, and we started walking back to the reception. The lights appeared a few seconds later. As soon as we were at the sight of everyone, I spun Bella into the dance floor, and we started where we had stopped a minutes ago, before Jacob had been here. Bella looked around. Searching for some sign that somebody had noticed about what had just happened in the forest. Her search was unnecessary, just my family and Tanya's had noticed the turmoil.

Jasper and Emmett were at the edge of the dance floor, they had been nearby just in case I would had needed their help.

_All good, Edward?_

They asked me before they saw us get into light for the guests. I just had nodded, and murmured under my breath rapidly, that everything was under control.

I wanted to make sure Bella was fine. She didn't seem to have assimilated what happened. Her face was still showing a little anxiety.

"Are you—" I started asking, but she interrupted me.

"I'm fine," She answered, and her voice sounded sure. Although there was a hidden feeling behind it. "I can't believe I did that. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you." I assured her. Surprisingly she didn't reacted to what I told her. She was thinking seriously about something. Still the same. That's why it surprised me what were her next words. How I wished to be able to read her mind in that moment, to really know what she was thinking.

"It's over, let's not think of it again tonight." Of course not. I thought. I'm sorry, love. But I can't. How not to think about every one of his words, every one of his thoughts? They were full of truth. I knew that already, I had weeks repeating the same to my Bella. Trying to make her reason. That I wouldn't be able to hold her in my arms that way, and not be lost in the pleasure of touching her soft and warm skin, with my hard and cold skin against hers. I wouldn't be able to stay focus on not hurting her. How would I do it, how would I even try it?

"Edward?" Bella talked to me, when I didn't answer. I closed my eyes and put my forehead against hers.

What was I going to say to her, that I hadn't already? I was tired of insisting that it wasn't a good idea to have sex with me until she was a vampire, and we didn't have any risks, she of dying, and I of being the guilty one of killing her.

How was I going to survive without her? Killing her in our wedding night? I'd rather that dog killed me before my worst nightmares became true.

"Jacob is right," I whispered while wondering what I wasn't capable of saying a now to my Bella. "What am I thinking?"

"He is not." Bella whispered her words. She wasn't going to convince of the contrary. I didn't have to listen to his words saying I would kill my Bella to believe they were true. "Jacob is way too prejudiced to see anything clearly."

"I should let him kill me for even thinking about trying." I whispered so low, that I thought Bella didn't hear anything of what I said.

"Stop it," Bella told me in an almost ferocious way. Like the kitten who believes it's a lion. Her courage didn't motivate me to smile like it would had done it in other occasions. She took my face in her hands, and waited for me to open my eyes to tell me what she thought.

It hurt me to think in having Bella that way on that day that was hers. So I opened my eyes and prepared to what was coming.

"You and me. That's the only thing that matters. The only thing you're allowed to think about now. Do you hear me?"

"Yes." I told her in a whisper. She was the only think I thought. There wasn't anyone else who held my thoughts. So there was no way of denying her words.

"Forget Jacob came." Bella told me. There was a hidden tone in her voice that surprised me. Like she herself was determined on doing what she had just asked me to. "For me. Promise that you'll let this go."

There was nothing I could deny to this beautiful angel I had in front of me, begging me that she was the only thing in which I focused.

I looked inside her eyes for a moment. And I felt I could see all the way to her soul. I was going to destroy all the pureness Bella had in her. But her eyes were begging me to fulfill her request. They were begging me to do it.

"I promise."

"Thank you. Edward, I'm not afraid." How could she not? I was terrified, like I had never been. It wasn't like I was going to be too late to save her from some unknown that wanted to take her away from my side, it was me from which I had to watch after her.

"I am." I told her in a whisper. I had barely the courage to tell her those words.

"Don't be." Bella took a deep breath, and smiled. Her eyes changed, finding a way to change the sudden tense atmosphere that was surrounding us. "By the way, I love you."

"That's why we're here."

_Oh, it's time for you to relax, little brother._

"You're monopolizing the bride." Was that his way of relaxing me? He was driving me away from the only tranquilizer that worked on me. My Bella.

_Check this out._ Was thinking Emmett, while I read his next words.

"Let me dance with my little sister. This could be my last chance to make her blush."

Told and done. Bella blushed at hearing his words.

_I told you._

Emmett burst into laughing when he saw that his words had caused the wanted effect.

I let my Bella dancing with my brother. I came towards the table where my family was. Waiting for me to come to them. I explained them in summary what had happened, and they calmed down when I assured them everything was okay now. We spoke, and even laughed a while, I was beginning to forget, like Bella wished, everything that had happened. I stayed with my family a few more minutes. My angel was dancing with several guests she hadn't dance with yet.

When I was walking back to Bella, I reminded a detail.

_I know, I know. I'm sorry, ok?_

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Of course not, Edward." _You'll see._

I was satisfied with the answer from my sister. Bella was beautiful that night, that Alice should had made her to see herself in a mirror.

When I had Bella in my arms again, I decided not to show her anymore my worries, and fulfill with my promise. Forget that Jacob had come. My Bella smiled at a thought I couldn't listen, and laid her head against my chest. My body against hers sent every time I touched her a electrical current through my entire body. It was from pleasure, and I held her closer to me.

"I could get used to this." She told me while dancing. Now I understood why she hadn't complained about having to dance at the beginning of the night.

"Don't tell me you've gotten over your dancing issues?"

"Dancing isn't so bad—with you. But I was thinking more of this," while she was telling me what she was thinking about, she held me closer against my chest. "of never having to let you go." Of never having to let you go. Such beautiful words, and how much happiness were injecting in my heart. Everytime Bella put into words her love, and her wish to be with me forever, I felt that my heart could start beating again in any moment.

"Never." I promised her and myself. It was what both of us wanted the most, and I wouldn't deny any more to let it happen. I inclined towards her, and kissed her.

I started the kiss softly, thinking and enjoying the sensation I felt everytime her lips were against mine. Feeling that current getting wild all over, enjoying the softness of the kiss from her lips, her hands hooked around my neck.

I hadn't even begun to completely enjoy of the angel I had in my arms when I heard that annoying little voice that interrupted that moment.

"Bella! It's time!" Yelled Alice to my Bella. In that moment I didn't care about what was happening around me, I was with my angel, and I didn't want to let her go, not yet.

_Edward, let her come with me._

I felt a deep desire to disappear next to my angel, where nothing or no one could separate us even for just a second. I pressed my lips against Bella's with more emotion and desire than before. I then listened to the most beautiful sound in my life had made my heart resound, Bella's heartbeats were getting wild, as it always did when my lips found hers, everytime my hands touched hers. Her hands started sweating, and I felt how she put more force to not get away from my neck, my lips.

"Do you want to miss your plane?" _Eh, Edward?_ "I'm sure you'll have a lovely honeymoon camped out in the airport waiting for another flight."

Didn't she give up?

I turned around just a millimeter in her direction, never taking my lips from Bella's, to tell her.

"Go away, Alice."

I turned back that millimeter to keep kissing my beautiful angel.

"Bella, do you want to wear that dress on the airplane?" No, she didn't give up. She kept insisting. But it seemed that Bella wasn't paying any attention to her. Her attention was centred in our lips, and her skin against mine.

_Agh, Edward._ Alice growled and her next words left me frozen. "I'll tell her where you're taking her, Edward. So help me, I will."

I stopped the kiss, and got away from Bella. I turned to see my favorite sister, and repeat the words I had so often used on her. There was no other way to call her.

"You're awfully small to be so hugely irritating."

"I didn't pick out the perfect going-away dress to have it wasted." Alice told me, while I saw in her mind a vision of her sticking out her little tongue towards me. She saved herself the step to do it in the moment, because she knew I had already saw it. She took Bella's hand and said to her. "Come with me, Bella."

Bella pulled her arm a little, and step back to me, got in her tiptoes to reach my lips and kiss me goodbye.

_Edward!_

Alice shouted in her mind, pulling Bella, now impatiently, taking her away from me.

_Look at her, doesn't want to be away from Edward._

Were thinking the most of the guests, laughing a little because of the show we had just starred, my sister, Bella and myself. My angel gave up and let Alice guide their way into the house.

_Edward, we won't be long. She'll be with you and just you very soon. Did you have to make it so hard?_

Alive was shouting at me in her mind, while they were walking inside the house. Esme and Renée were waiting patiently in Alice's room.

I heard as my Bella thanked my sister for what she had done with the wedding. How she had been delighted with her job. The truth was that it had been the most beautiful wedding anyone had ever had. Bella was right. But just for the fact that she was the bride and I the lucky groom. Now husband and wife.

It had passed several minutes since Bella had come into the house, they were surely about to come downstairs. Alice had talked to me to tell me to wait for them in the staircase. When the guest saw my family and myself walking towards the house, everyone followed us, guessing that the newlyweds were about to leave to their honeymoon.

"Edward, son. Take care of Bella. We'll be waiting for you to come back." Carlisle told me, thinking that to our return everything would be ready to leave to Alaska and turn Bella into a vampire.

"Thank you, Carlisle."

_Don't worry, Edward. Everything will be fine._

"Everything is in their place, Edward. The bags are in the car." Jasper told me, walking closer to me from behind.

"Thank you."

Then I heard Renée and Bella talking in the top of the staircase.

"I love you, Mom, I'm so glad you have Phil. Take care of each other." I heard Bella saying with a deep emotion to her mom. Thinking that after this she wouldn't be able to see her again, not for a year at least.

"I love you, too, Bella, honey." They continued that way while descending the staircase, Renée's thoughts were impregnated with a deep sadness at seeing her daughter leaving to her honeymoon, but also full of glee because she knew Bella would be happy with me.

"Goodbye, Mom. I love you."

Bella said to her for the last time. Stepping at the bottom of the staircase, where I was waiting for her, I outstretched my hand for her to take it with hers. She took it while searching with the look among the people who were surrounding us to say goodbye. I was almost sure that she was looking for Charlie, who was hidden from sight, inclined against a wall. Even where I was I could listen to tears streaming down his face. His thoughts were centering about his only daughter, who were leaving on her honeymoon, to not coming back to his house with him, but with her husband.

"Dad?" Bella asked me, while she kept searching for the place where her dad was.

"Over here." I told her. I brought her with me between the guests who were making space to let us walk through to where Charlie was. When Bella saw him, she exclaimed.

"Oh, Dad!" She told him, while approaching him and wound her arms around him to give him a hug. I heard how my Bella began to cry with the emotion of seeing charlie that way. Charlie patted her arm softly. Thinking about the embarrassment of having been found like that. But happy that his daughter hadn't left without looking for him first to say goodbye to him.

"There, now. You don't want to miss your plane." Charlie answered. His thoughts were sad, even more than Renée's had been.

_Better Edward take good care of her._ Was the most I could read in his mind. To take care of her. He was sure that Bella would be fine with me.

"I love you forever, Dad, don't forget that."

"You, too, Bells. Always have, always will."

Bella kissed him in the cheek saying goodbye, and Charlie returned the gesture, giving her another kiss on my Bella's wet cheek.

"Call me." Charlie asked her.

"Soon." Was all that Bella said.

"Go on, then, don't want to be late." Charlie suddenly told her. His embarrassment at the love demonstrations were attacking him. Bella got up and got back to me.

She took my hand and we walked back among the people, who were making space again for us.

"Are you ready?" I asked my Bella.

"I am." Bella answered. There was a conviction in her words, which convinced me that her words were true.

When we were in the door frame, I gave a kiss to my angel. Everybody were applauding in that moment. I step away from her, and put my arms around her waist, we walked towards the car and the audience started throwing rice to us. In that moment I got Bella into the car when Emmett started throwing the rice right into my back, making them jump into Bella.

"Emmett!" I said under my breath.

_What's up, little brother? It's just a little rice._

Emmett were telling me in an innocent tone. Like he didn't know the rice were falling into Bella.

When the two of us were inside the car, I accelerate at high speed, Bella didn't even complaint about it. She opened the window of the car and got her head out, looking towards the house which was getting farthest slowly from our sight. The I heard her scream.

"I love you." I squeezed her hand, like that phrase had been said to me. Answering to her voice.

"I love you." I told her, when her eyes were back to me. She incline towards me and laid her head against my shoulder.

"That's why we're here." She told the same way I had done. I kissed her hair.

I pushed harder the pedal when suddenly I heard those thoughts again. Jacob was following us through the forest, he didn't want to miss his last chance to separate Bella from me.

I didn't say anything about the noise that I heard slowly louder. Bella said nothing and I let it pass. Soon the car speed was too much for him, he gave up, knowing Bella had heard him and did nothing to stop the car.

Jacob howled in a way, that said how unhappy he was about the fact that Bella was driving away with me. For ever. He couldn't do anything else, Bella and I were together.

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**Again, so sorry with you guys. Won't happen again.**

**See ya soon..**


	6. Chapter 5, ISLE ESME

**Hi guys! Chapter five is finally here, I'm so glad I could uploaded today... Well hope you had enjoyed the last one, the next two chapters will be here on friday or maybe on saturday, but it will the last two chapters that we have from Bella's point of view.**

**I had a review telling me that the story is not understandabl, well sorry, but I'm mexican, I don't have a perfect english, and I'm writing it with the knowledge I have.**

**Anyway... hope you enjoy this one. And keep reviewing, they made me happier, and made me want to come and upload what I write!**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

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CHAPTER 5. Isle Esme

The journey in car passed in a peaceful way. Bella stayed laid with her head against my shoulder, her hand securely interwined with mine. Her eyes got lost in my look everytime I turned around to see her, and I brushed my lips in her hair, her forehead, her lips, her hand interwined in mine. While we got to Seattle to take our flight to Houston, I was thinking about what was waiting for us arriving to our destination, Bella was still sure of wanting to try. And though it was what I wanted the most, to give her everything she wanted, it terrified me the idea of being so close to her as much as it excited me. I would have to exert a selfcontrol as I had never tried. Her scent still made my throat to flare in fire everytime I smelled it, but it was different, it hadn't changed her scent, but my reactions, the desire I once had on drinking her blood drop by drop, had gone, mi being flew of the just idea of touching her soft skin with my teeth, to push them into her skin and have her sweet blood in my mouth. I would never permit my angel to leave this world, if it wasn't with me at her side. I would never be the responsible one for her death. Never. I swore it in that moment.

"Houston?" My Bella asked, showing her confusion by raising her eyebrows. I hadn't dropped a single word about the place we were spending the next few days.

"Just a stop along the way." I assured my Bella with a smile. I had planned every detail of our honeymoon. Everything in order to make sure Bella had a good time, that there would be nothing to make her feel uncomfortable. I was almost sure that there would be no complaints.

The way to Houston wasn't that long, although Bella fell asleep in the very moment when we were in our seats. She didn't open her eyes until the plane landed and I took her in my arms to raise her from the seat. Her eyes barely opened, and I felt how she struggled to keep herself enough awake to walk through the terminals. It was luck that her body had the weight of a feather, I supported all her weight in my arms, not that it bothered me to hold her in my arms. When we were checking in, and she realized where our next flight was heading, she said.

"Rio de Janeiro?" I thought her tone would be as the one I heard in Seattle, but I heard something like emotion. The weather from South America was closer to the one she so loved. The heat and the beach. I was happy to see that at least my surprise was going well. Or so I thought. We weren't going to Rio exactly.

"Another stop." Was all I said. And to my surprise, Bella said nothing.

I knew my Bella hadn't gotten sleep as much as she had wanted in the last two days, and in the flight to Houston she didn't have the chance to rest properly.

The flight to Rio de Janeiro was long enough to give my Bella an opportunity to rest, she had fallen asleep in the same way as she had the last time, between my arms, she slept delicately. And I settled with holding her frail and delicate body, her beautiful face against my chest. All the flight or almost, because there were occasions in which I had to pretend to be asleep, I spent my time watching the fine lines of her face, her soft and delicate skin, her full lips, slightly parted, listening to her breathing, her heartbeats. All that so much attracted me to her, everything that called me to love her like I had never done before.

How was I supposed to do what was waiting for us in a few hours? Bella was still set, her words full of trust, that trust in me, my strength, the one I didn't have. Of one thing I was absolutely sure, I wouldn't allow that for any motive my Bella got injured from that situation, I wouldn't. I would give Bella what she so much wanted before turning her into a monster like myself. I couldn't deny it to her, though I was sure I should. That I should prevent that to happen, before something got wrong. I loved her as much as she loved me, that was enough to not hurt her.

After several hours of flight, the sun was setting when the plane started landing. When Bella woke up, her eyes weren't struggling to keep open, I didn't feel her body about to fall down at the floor because of fatigue, even so I kept my arms around her waist.

It didn't take me too long to get a cab that could take us to our destination, Bella waited patiently for the driver to get our bags into the car, while I gave him orders to the place we were heading. I saw in my angel's eyes that she couldn't understand any of the words that came out of my mind. I suppressed my laughing at her expression. We went through the crowded streets, Rio was one of the liveliest cities of Brazil, they partied the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. After a moment, I felt Bella twisting about something, I didn't understand why she reacted that way, but the nerves were attacking me and I didn't have the courage to get the words out of me and ask her what she was thinking. I didn't have any idea of what we were going to do.

After a few minutes, we left behind the lights of the city and got to the dock, where we would take our next transportation. We were closing distance to our destination. The cab driver got our bags out the car, and after paying for his services, he left. Leaving us at the dock I led Bella towards the yacht, Carlisle had bought years ago, when precisely giving the island to Esme. While we walked, I saw how Bella we admiring the lined yachts, all of them white and luxurious. We stopped in front of ours, I took the bags with both hands and put them in the floor of the boat.

As soon as they were in the floor, I turned back rapidly towards my Bella to help her up, with her luck, she would fall down straight to the ocean, if I didn't help her. Bella sat in the edge of the boat, while I was preparing to depart to Isle Esme. I looked out of the corner of my eyes how Bella's eyes were huge with surprise, I had never mentioned to Bella nothing about boats, there hadn't been why. It was strange that my family and myself used one. None of my siblings had been here, just Carlisle and Esme, and now us. We departed after a few moments. Bella had been really quiet since we left the airport, and I didn't see how to break the silence.

I kept thinking about how to do what was waiting for us, or how to start. I had no idea. But while we were leaving the city behind, and the lights were dimming behind us, the speed was getting higher, and I felt the same emotion for high speeds, I felt the sea spray hitting my face, and the warm weather I knew Bella so much loved, I was thinking about what was going to happen in a few moments, if everything went well, our relationship would reach a new level, to love Bella that way, excited me, so many times had I fantasized about having Bella in my arms that way, but just now, she being my wife, I had it allowed. Everytime my mind digressed with images of Bella that way, I hated myself for being so human, so man. Bella deserved my respect.

The sea spray, and the water drops that showered my Bella, were making her scent stronger, my throat flared, but again, at seeing her face, her skin, another kind of hunger attacked me. With which one I had to exert even more selfcontrol.

It had been several minutes since we departed, and I guessed Bella couldn't suppressed her curiosity any longer. After all, she still didn't know where we were going.

"Are we going much farther?"

"About another half hour." I told to my angel which was gripping at he moment with her hands the seat. The image made smile. My Bella didn't like high speed.

Bella didn't comment anything else. I put my eyes back to the ocean, in a few minutes I would be able to see the shape of the island in front of us. It excited me to see how my Bella would react to my surprise.

What would she think? Would she like it? The place was very similar to every one of our properties. Since Esme was the responsible to design and decorate, she tended to use the same colors y proportions. Surely Bella would notice it. It may make her feel more comfortable, more like home.

After twenty minutes or so, I could see the shape of the island growing larger while approaching, excitement filled me, and without taking my eyes off the island, I talked to Bella.

"Bella, look there." I said pointing to the exact point where I could see the island. When I saw she didn't respond, I knew it was too soon for her eyes. It reminded me the moment, two years ago, when I took her to our meadow, and like that, I told her to see the place where we were going before her eyes were capable to see it. Bella stayed quiet, waiting, maybe, to be able to see what I was showing her.

The moon was completely full, it left a light trail above the sea water which was leading towards Isle Esme. I could see the vegetation that surrounded it, moving from side to side at the rhythm of the wind blowing softly. The waves were hitting delicately the beach. It was a beautiful and peaceful sight.

After a moment, Bella asked, in a tone, a little louder than a whisper.

"Where are we?" Her voice sounded amazed for what was receiving us in front of us. I was veering to the north of the island, to stop in the little dock. I turned around to see her, and when I saw her face, glowing in a beautiful way at the moonlight, she left breathless.

I smiled and answered. "This is Isle Esme."

Bella kept admiring the beauty of the island, while I was slowing completely the speed, what was left was enough to stop at exactly the dock. When I turned the engine off, everything went silent. I could hear even the quietest movement. The waves hitting the boat, the beach, the sea spray on my face, my hair, the breeze hitting lightly my Bella's skin, her hair moving at its rhythm, her breathing, and the most important, her heartbeats.

"Isle Esme?" She asked in the same low voice that a moment ago, her voice sounded louder than it really was, because of the silence surrounding us.

"A gift from Carlisle—Esme offered to let us borrow it." Bella furrowed her forehead when hearing my words. I could imagine what was going through her mind. And island for a gift. Maybe that way she would understand that money was nothing to us, it had no value. That was why I wouldn't mind spending every coin I had on her.

I took the bags from the same place I had left them, and put them in the dock. I turned around to see her, and thought in just taking her hand, but I was anxious to have her back in my arms again, the voyage had lasted a little less than an hour, the most tortuous minutes, I wished, I longed to hold her against my body again.

"Aren't you supposed to wait for the threshold?" She asked me when I had her in my arms, she was breathless by my surprise.

"I'm nothing if not thorough." I answered her with a smile. I was., I had thought too much in the place where we should spend our honeymoon, I wished everything went well.

I took Bella in just an arm, and so I could take the bags with the other one. That way we walked through the island, through the vegetation surrounding us, there was a path of sand which took us to the house. All the time, I felt as if my heart was capable of beating again, would be frantic. In that moment I heard Bella's heart, it was like if through her my heart was reflected. Her heart started beating in an uncontrollable way, and I heard how her breathing stopped.

What are you thinking?

I wanted to ask her with all my might, but Bella kept her eyes straight ahead, where we could already make out the house, my eyes in her face, and I knew she could feel them, still she kept her eyes right straight. I really wanted to ask her what she was thinking, but I was too nervous that I couldn't make myself to stay focus correctly, something it shouldn't be happening, I should kept a cold mind, focused every second, it didn't help to be distracted like that, even before we put a foot inside the house.

We reached the door and I put the bags in the floor, and stepped closer to the door, there wasn't a need for the door to be locked, just today had the cleaning crew for the last time since we called them, they knew we would arrive today, so they had left unlocked.

Without passing through the frame door, I kept still, lowered my eyes towards my Bella's face, and I decided to wait until Bella put her eyes on me, I wanted to know what she was thinking, how she was feeling, and there wasn't better way to know it, than seeing through her beautiful chocolate brown eyes that didn't know to keep secrets. They told what I needed in that moment, we passed the frame door, and I kept her in my arms.

While walking inside the house, I was turning on every one of the lights, I didn't need them to see, darkness wasn't an obstacle to my eyes, but Bella did need the light. Bella was still without uttering a single word. She was watching every corner of the house, I could see a blink in her eyes, recognition. She had noticed the similarity. Her pulse calmed down a little, and I felt she liked my election for the place to spend our honeymoon.

In that moment we got to our final destination, the bedroom. I stopped and turned on the last light we would need that night. Bella watched carefully every detail inside of the room, I saw how her eyes moved from the walls to the crystal that made up the furthest wall of the room, she kept looking for a moment, maybe appreciating the view that it could be seen through the crystal, the moon was shining in its fullest and the waves could be listened as a soft background music. Her eyes went straight to the bed in the center of bedroom, her eyes kept looking at the bed. I wasn't sure of wanting to know what was going through her mind.

I set her on her feet, I didn't know what to do or what to say in the moment. My mind was blank.

"I'll… go get the luggage." I decided to go get the bags and brought them to the room. Give a minute to my Bella.

I came back to the front door in what one of her heartbeats lasted. At least they seemed normal. Also her breathing. I stopped for a moment, I heard her steps walking straight front, to the bed? God! What was I going to do if I when I came back she was on it waiting for me? I heard as her soft hand brushed the netting on the bed.

I immediately came back to her side, I couldn't bear to stay away from her too long. I put the bags on the dresser. I the saw how the hot weather was affecting the temperature of her body. A few drops of sweat were starting to fall down her neck.

Without been able to help myself, I walked closer behind her, she didn't even hear my steps. I raised my hand, and passed one of my cold fingers over her skin, erasing the trail of sweat forming when falling down her skin. Bella didn't even shiver by the coldness of my skin. Her skin was so soft...

"It's a little hot here," I explained Bella, knowing she was conscious of the fact. I had thought that this weather would make things better. At least Bella wouldn't freeze for being in my arms. "I thought… that would be best."

"Thorough." Bella said under her breath. Her word made laugh, it might had never came out of me that kind of laugh, it was a nervous one. I had never been in a situation quite like this.

"I tried to think of everything that would make this… easier." I told my Bella, thinking that that weather was the most appropriate for Bella to want to spend the rest of the time in my arms. Which made me happiest than anything.

At hearing my words, Bella swallowed in a noisy way, she was nervous, and she still didn't raise her eyes towards my face. I thought that neither Bella nor myself knew how to start that, we needed a distraction, something to relax us and prepare us.

"I was wondering," I told her carefully, I thought it would be a nice way. "if… first… maybe you'd like to take a midnight swim with me?" I couldn't believe how nervous I was. After all Bella was already my wife, it was normal. So I took a deep breath, and when I spoke again, my voice sounded reasonably normal again. "The water will be very warm. This is the kind of beach you approve of."

"Sounds nice." Bella answered and her voice broke at the end. It was easier for me to control my emotions than to her.

"I'm sure you'd like a human minute or two.… It was a long journey." I would give her a chance to be alone and to think seriously about what she wanted to do, if she was still sure to want to do it.

The best would be for her to regret it and asked me to wait until she was a vampire. The truth was that I didn't want to wait, but what I wanted and what should be, were two very different things. So when she nodded once at my words, I felt a little like cheating, I was tempting her to do it.

I brought closer my head to her shoulders, and put my lips on the skin of her throat, I brushed softly her skin from her throat to the lower part of her ear. Then I whispered. Her now too much heated skin, was causing that the electrical current I felt at being so near to her went through my body, it made smile, how good it felt to have her beautiful skin so close to my lips. I felt a tinkling sensation on the part of her neck where my cold breath was touching her naked skin.

"Don't take too long, Mrs. Cullen." She jumped a little when she heard me calling her by her new name. I loved to know that my skin touching hers still stimulated her. It excited her.

I put my lips back on her skin, and touching the skin from her hair down to the tip of her shoulder, I told her. "I'll wait for you in the water."

I knew perfectly well that we shouldn't do that, not yet. But now all my being wished to have her, and to make her mine, just mine. I walked in front of her, towards the door, where I would go straight to the beach, where I would wait for my angel to come to me. A naughty thought came to my mind. I took my hands to the bottoms of my shirt, and unbuttoned them slowly, I felt how Bella's eyes followed every movement I did, one by one were letting my shirt to open, until I got to the last one. I kept walking and let the shirt fell down to the floor. I was tempting her, almost seducing her to follow me. I came out through the door and felt how the air went into the bedroom.

I kept walking towards the beach, while doing it at a human speed. I was thinking about the best way to wait for my Bella, something I had told her, "I'll wait for you in the water", I had already take off my shirt, and I kept thinking about what to do now. After a few minutes of thinking over the matter, I stopped in front of a twisted tree that was at the edge of the sand path. I took my shoes and socks off, then I took my hands, without thinking about it, to my jeans, I took the belt off and unbuttoned the jeans, unzipped it and took off the jeans, then the underwear and left them aside the tree. I went straight to the beach, and submerged.

The effect that the water made me feel against my naked skin, was soothing, the sound of the waves hitting softly against the sand, against my body, allowed me to have my mind clear, to think about the situation more easily. I had no idea of how was I going to give Bella what she asked me to, how to do it without hurting her, how I would gather the necessary strength to not hurt her, to keep myself focus.

How to stay focused? If at being just in her arms, touching her lips with mine, her hands in my hair, clinging to me by my neck. Made me lose myself in her, my mind got crazy and I lost all reason.

How would I do it now, having her so close to my body, her warm skin against my cold skin? Her hands reaching places where I had never allowed her to reach, my hands in places where I hadn't allowed myself to have between them. My lips against her naked skin, her face, her hair, her shoulders, her legs... if at that moment, just imagining that all her body would be at the reach of my hands, and all my body, all my being, would be at her reach. I was trembling with anticipated pleasure.

I concentrated in everyone of her words, everyone of her whispers, everyone of her looks, everyone of her smiles. Everyone of them directed at me. Everytime that came out of her lips an "I love you", everytime I watched her sleeping and in her dreams she whispered my name, everytime her eyes got lost in mine, opening the only gate I had to her soul, everyone of her smiles when she saw me coming, or when she understood my intentions when inclining myself towards her face searching for her soft and full lips that called me to touch them with my lips. Everytime her heartbeats went frantic at having me so close to her, when her breathing got difficult after my kisses. How her hands clung to my hair, begging me to not separate me from her lips, from the beautiful skin of her neck, keeping my hand securely in her back, pulling her more towards me.

The sound of the water falling down the shower interrupted my thoughts, I heard how the fall of the drops of water were interrupted by someone getting in them, my Bella was taking a shower. That was strange. Take a shower before getting into the salty water of the sea. Thinking about her body under the water in that moment, got me absurdly jealous of those drops of water, they were covering every inch of the beautiful and soft skin of my Bella like my hands had never done. It attacked me an almost uncontrollable desire to sprint back to her and took her in my arms at that instant, make her for once and all mine, never separate myself from her side.

I didn't know how I managed to control that desire which invaded me in a surprisingly way, but I did it. Bella deserved the chance to back out, or to be completely sure that she still wanted to try. Try it, that was everything I had promised her. Though I was sure I couldn't hurt her, my heart screamed at me to not have fear, to forget about that irrational fear that was invading me, which was making me doubt of being capable to love Bella in that way without hurting her.

I knew my mind was stronger than my desires, I had known it since the moment that I had been able to touch her desirable lips with mine, two years ago, when we were coming back from our meadow. All this time, I had been able to touch her frail skin with my hard hands without hurting her even a little. I had had her breakable body under mine easily, I hadn't lost control at feeling that way her body under my body, I had held back my desire to take her in that moment, when my Bella begged me to try that madness before our wedding, I had held back in my weakness' moment, when I felt I wouldn't be able to bear it anymore, that day in our meadow, even my Bella held back, when in her eyes I saw the desire, in her kisses I felt the same desire that I felt.

We had done everything in the right way, my Bella's soul was still intact, as clean and pure as it had been since the day her eyes saw the light for the first time.

The water that was falling down her body turned off, I heard her footsteps turning around and then a towel sliding over her body. What would my Bella wear to seduce me into this madness? It didn't matter what it was, she didn't have to wear anything to make my being to want to hold her in my arms. And neither was something in this world to make me not wanting her.

I knew that in a few moments my Bella would be walking towards myself, I decided to submerge a little deeper, I rapidly swam even deeper into the ocean, I thought that hunting a few animals to control my thirst, if I was going to be so close to her and with my mind focused on not hurting her, it would be good for my body to be full of blood, that way I would had less chances wishing to have my teeth inside her skin, and her blood in my mouth. After a few minutes, I came back to the surface, I stayed sitting with my eyes to the sea, half my body were under the water. I put my hands above the water, feeling the waves hitting me, my body didn't move a millimeter.

I focused on her heartbeats and her breathing, waiting. There was something in them, her heartbeats were little out of control, her breathing was fast and uneasy.

Was she backing out?

It would be the best. I repeated to myself, trying to convince myself that Bella should tell me that she didn't want to do what we agreed. Even when I was convinced that that was a big mistake, I wasn't capable of giving my Bella a no for answer, my weakness at wanting to give her everything she asked me, had put me in that situation. But the problem here, was that it wasn't just the wish to give her a yes, but that I wanted to give her a yes for myself, because I wanted her as I had never coveted the body of a woman, not even love it and wanted it that way. Bella was the only woman who had me one hundred percent at her feet, and all for her.

How were we going to do that? My doubts were coming back to me. How? I was about to decide to say no to my Bella, to refuse completely as I hadn't had the necessary strength to make it that night when she asked it to me. At that moment, I heard Bella whispering under her breath, four words who gave me the courage that had been escaping me. "Don't be a coward". I heard how Bella got off the floor and opened the bathroom's door. Her footsteps didn't stop in front of the dresser where I had left her bag, I heard them when they touched the soft sand from the path which would bring her to me. I put my look towards the moon, which would be witness of our love that night.

I heard how her footsteps stopped for a moment, I felt her eyes glued to my figure, I felt how they burned in my skin, I was all hers and always hers. How to refuse to give myself to her wishes, when she was my owner? She could do whatever she wanted with me. Then I realized the place where she had stopped, when she let fall down the towel covering her body aside the sound that made the wind by hitting my clothes. I knew that if my heart were capable of beating, in that moment it would be beating wildly. My breathing stopped, Bella was naked, walking towards myself.

Her footsteps were heard again after a few seconds, I heard how her feet were touching softly the sand beneath them, when she came near the edge of the beach, I heard the little waves hitting her skin, the sound of her heartbeats were getting closer, I could almost feel the warm of her skin burning mine, I felt how her footsteps were careful, with fear of falling down. The sand under the water shaped itself with Bella's feet above it, letting her walk without any difficulty.

A few more seconds, I told myself.

I felt how she placed her beautiful and soft hand above mine, the water bathing us had no comparison at all with the heat of her body, just her warm and her skin could make me feel like heaven, feeling the electrical current I had grown to loved so much, as her heartbeats, her breathing, all of her.

"Beautiful." It was the first thing that came out of her lips at being at my side. The moon? How could she compare it with herself? It was impossible.

"It's all right." I told her softly, while I turned around in her direction to admire the real beauty that I could only see with her by my side. Our eyes met together, I felt how my body formed little waves that were hitting against her skin, her hand was still on mine, so I twisted it around so they were palm to palm, and interwined our fingers together. That way I submerged them under the water of the sea. The coldness of my skin against the heat of the water was enough to not make her shiver.

"But I wouldn't use the word beautiful, not with you standing here in comparison." I told my angel, who smiled at my words, without complaining of me saying how beautiful she was. I hadn't dared my eyes to stray in her naked body, because I wouldn't be able to stop myself to take her in that moment, without giving her a chance to think well, I saw how her hand, the one who wasn't interwined with mine, raised from the water and she put it on my chest. Over the exact place where my heart should be beating uncontrollably if it were possible. Her hand on my skin, sent the electrical current straight to my dead heart. I felt how a shudder went through my body, my breathing becoming harder. Trying, being with her, she in my arms, that way...

"I promised we would try," I whispered, in my voice could be heard the worry, which was filling me in that moment. I still wasn't sure how this would end. "If… if I do something wrong, if I hurt you, you must tell me at once." I demanded her, without letting her hear how my voice was begging for her to say no. That she didn't want to try anymore.

Bella nodded with her head, her eyes never leaving mine, in them I saw the promise, the trust she was giving me. I didn't see any sign of distrust, of fear. How to fail to that beautiful angel that had been destined to be mine? No, I wouldn't.

Without taking our eyes from each other, Bella took a step forward towards me, cutting the little distance that was between us. I saw how her head was inclining towards my chest, laying her face over myself, I felt every centimeter of her body against mine. The warm of her body filling me completely.

"Don't be afraid." She told me in a whisper. "We belong together." And with those words there was no way of refusing, to deny the truth in them. I had been hers and only hers, since my eyes had been laid on her face, in her beautiful brown chocolate eyes the first time I saw her crossing my way in that cafeteria. I had been hers, and I hadn't even noticed it, of the power and control that from that moment her beauty, her intelligence and her silence would had on me.

"Forever." I swore to her. I took her in my arms, and went to deeper waters.

…

God! It had been barely a few minutes since my angel had fallen exhausted in my arms, in that moment she was deeply asleep. How much I wanted to interrupt her sleep to start where her energy had finished with her wishes to continue. I still couldn't believe that my Bella, mi angel was in my arms, intact, literally. Now there wasn't anything or anyone that could separate me from that beautiful person who had chosen me to be the owner of her being, her love, herself, as much as she was my owner.

The memories of that first encounter between our bodies would be engraved in my memory for the rest of my existence, I didn't have any idea that Bella were able to give me more happiness than the one she already did at just being with me, with just had said yes to me. That yes so longed for other ones, but that I had been the lucky one to heard it from her lips.

The Bella I had in my arms, was the same one I had fallen in love with for my whole existence, and even so, she was completely different, I never thought I could experience more happiness, but hearing my name coming out of her lips in that position, couldn't be compared with hearing it in her dreams, in her dreams I could only imagine that it was me she was dreaming with, that her dreams were good ones and not nightmares about me; in that way, with our bodies made one, there was no way of denying she was happy at my side. That there was no one else she wanted to be with but me.

Having her laid across my chest, her body still naked across every part of mine, knowing that I had been capable of controlling myself and not hurt her. I was sure, Bella hadn't complained not even once, instead of that, when I pushed myself away from her, even a millimeter, Bella held tight to me with more force and asked me for more pleasure. And everytime I fulfilled her desires, escaped from her seductive lips, the most sensual moans that from her I ever heard before because of me. Everytime my mind threaten to distracted itself, I tried to step away from her, to regain control and not hurt her, then her lips asked me for more. I had traced with my hand every inch of her beautiful body. My lips had touched it as I had never dreamed to be able, my tongue touching softly her naked skin, and everytime, Bella begged me for more.

If being able to know every line of her body made me happy, it caused me an unknown pleasure until that moment, I felt even more pleasure, when feeling Bella knowing my body, so many times had I denied my Bella to delight in my figure, her hands touched every part of me, her lips kissed everything she wanted, I couldn't refuse to her to desire what was already hers. Every one of her caresses sent a stronger electrical current, with more force than I had felt before, everyone of them making me tremble with pleasure, made me want even more from her. To be able to give myself entirely to her body, with all my strength, without restrictions, without fear, for her or for what I could do to her.

Her body was still over mine, it made happy to think that in those moments, my Bella longed having the coldness of my body against every pore of her warm skin. In that moment I didn't hate the coldness that had been part of me since the moment I became this monster. I could have Bella the rest of her life here, that way, in my arms, without the need to be wrapped up in a quilt so she didn't freeze with my coldness.

I would go on with my life in that same way. I had made it, both of us. But in that moment I saw what was left of the feathers from Esme's pillows that were still thrown all over the bed, over Bella's body and even mine, and I remembered how close I had been to fail to that beautiful angel who had given herself to me, who had put all her trust in me. And I loathed again the thirsty monster that lived inside of me. I had been touching with my tongue, enjoying the sweet taste Bella's skin had, listening to her heartbeats in a way I had never listened, her blood running through her veins, I felt the monster woke up for a moment, my angel didn't even realize my weakness' moment, total fear of losing my control, I took the first thing that was at the reach of my hands, and took it to my mouth, I had destroyed the pillows when trying to recover the control over my mind, my thirst. When Bella felt I was distracted, held tighter to me, and uttered the only words I wanted to hear for the rest of existence, "Edward, I love you." The monster disappeared in that moment and I had Bella again in my arms, giving her what she was begging to me at the moment.

In that I contented myself with touching every line of her body that was at the reach of my hands, her face, her hair, her lips, her arms, her naked back... her skin was so soft, so delicate, so beautiful, the temperature her body was emanating made my fingers to take the warm from her skin, as if was my warm, the electrical current didn't leave my body, and everytime I touched any part of her frail skin, the memories came to my mind, making me internally tremble for pleasure.

_Physical relations are almost as powerful as to drink human blood._ I heard my brother's voice telling me, just a few hours before the wedding.

No, I told myself. I had tasted my Bella's blood, and I had been able to resist somehow, I still wasn't sure, I had been able to spent the last two years fighting against my thirst for her blood, and the only thing that had made possible that to happen, was my love for Bella, my desire for her. There wasn't anything more powerful than to being with her that way, I was sure I wouldn't bear much time without having Bella in my arms again, in those moments it was almost impossible to keep in line the desire invading me to maker her mine again, just the image of my angel sleeping in my arms stopped me. Barely.

It was then that I saw it.

Big bruises were beginning to appear in the white skin of my Bella, bruise over her back, her shoulders, her arms, even her face and her breast, surely, though I couldn't see them because they were hidden from my eyes. I had hurt her, after all. I couldn't believe that I had allowed that to happen. I was a monster, what else did I expect to happen? We were lucky that her bones were intact, when I almost lost control. Lucky? That was luck? That Bella had come out of this without broken bones? I had no idea what I was talking about. Luck would had been that Bella hadn't fallen in love with a monster like me, that she hadn't never decided to move to live with her dad in Forks, or that my family had never returned. That I would had never come back. Bella would had never found out about the terrible truth my family and myself hid, that I would had never listened to my Bella saying those words that attached me to her forever, that made my dead heart to relive.

But that wasn't Bella's fault, was mine, just mine. There wasn't anyone else to blame in that history. I, for clinging to that beautiful angel, that having so many options to be happy as human, decided to choose the monster thirsted of her blood. Give her soul away to spend the rest of eternity with someone who couldn't even love her physically without hurting her. What was I thinking in? Nothing, surely. I deluded myself thinking that I could do it without consequences. Surely my Bella was pretty hurt, how much? I didn't know. Her bones were intact, I hadn't heard any fracture.

When I thought anything could be better, that life couldn't give me any more happiness, it had to happened that. The bruises were starting to see more clearly every passing minute. Every place where I had experienced the soft and now more frail than ever skin of her body. I felt revolted about what I had done, what I had caused to my Bella, that I softly moved Bella aside, she wasn't in my arms anymore, and it hurt to separate myself from her. I got off the bed, and went straight to one of the bags with my clothes, I took a pair of color khaki jeans, I took a shower in the time of ten of her heartbeats, and sat in the edge of the bed. Admiring her beauty.

How not to hate when she woke up from her dream and saw what I did? She surely wouldn't want me to come close to her. That would be best. And it would be that way. But what was I saying? When had Bella reacted like a normal person would react? Her reactions always were the opposite to what I expected or what should be. She would surely try to convince me that she was perfectly fine, that it didn't hurt her, everything just to make me feel better. She wasn't going to fool me again.

Bella hadn't said a single word since she'd fallen asleep. And the fact started to make me worry. Maybe I underestimated the damage I had caused her. Was she okay? Was she unconscious? God! I was going to get mad of desperation, I had to know how hurt she was. She didn't even move, Bella used to move a lot when sleeping. Was that a sign something was wrong with her? Maybe I had hurt her more than I could see. It started to give me a panic attack. I couldn't stand the idea of Bella being suffering, and I was back to her side in a second. Drops of sweat were starting to fall down her forehead and back. I put myself back under her body, I took her in my arms in a way I had never done, I was imagining that her body was something even more delicate than a bubble. I shouldn't move her improperly, I didn't want it to pain her more, of what surely already pain her. Her body was back above mine, the change was immediate, I touched with my hand her forehead, her neck, her back, trying to calm the sudden heat that my absence had caused her.

It hurt me to see what I had done to her, but aside from the fact that I couldn't take my eyes off of her skin, it was that I should forced me to see what I had done, to engrave it in my memory, I couldn't allow that to happen again. I wouldn't have sex with my angel until she was a vampire, I wouldn't hurt her again. Next time both of us would be equals, my strength wouldn't hurt her, I wouldn't have to stop myself, wouldn't have to worry about losing control, on the contrary, I could lose myself in all her body without causing her any pain.

The sun had several minutes of starting to rise. The light it brought with itself, let me see even more how the bruises in her body were spreading out everywhere. Carefully, I put my fingers in the marks I had left, and without surprising me, my fingers matched perfectly, everyone of the places my hands had allowed themselves to touch with more force than the necessary, had left a mark, a temporary reminder of not touching her again until she was like me.

My photographic memory and the marks in her body, wouldn't let me forget what I had done to her. I myself wouldn't allow me to forget it.

While the sun kept rising, I felt how my Bella's arms started to move. I got worried. Should she be doing that? I didn't have much chance to think about her movement, her arms crawled over my chest, until they reached my neck. She interwined them in it, and stayed as quiet as before. Was it that they hurt her, and she was looking for the coldness of my skin to calm the pain? It was torture not being able to read her mind, to know what was going through her mind, it was torture all those hours where her eyes kept shut, a torture I couldn't see to wake up or leave behind.

It had been more than ten hours since she had fallen asleep. Bella wasn't of the kind who slept so many hours. Maybe the tiredness and exhaustion of that had been too much. After all, she was still just a human. Her body and her mind need rest, recover energy, something my body didn't need.

Waiting for my angel to wake up from her sleep, I spent the time tracing the patterns that my fingers, too hard against her skin, had left. They weren't much that could be seen, but I knew they would be worse as the days passed, they were just developing. I stopped memorizing the damage I had caused to her beautiful skin, I kept my arms still over her back. I had her hugged, keeping the coldness of my skin against her warm body. The sun rays started coming in through the crystal, falling down to her naked skin. I felt how the rays heated the skin of her body where my arms couldn't protect her.

I heard how her breathing started to change, her heartbeats too. I started tracing the marks on her skin again, softly, delicately, each one of them, as if I were drawing patterns on her skin. Bella felt the change, and tightened her arms around my neck. Did it hurt her? Bella didn't say a single word, my fingers drawing over the naked skin of her back. A seconds later I heard her stomach growling. She was hungry. Bella laughed at a thought that went through her mind. But I couldn't find anything in the moment that could make her laugh. I couldn't understand it, and it frustrated me not being able to read her mind, as always when her reactions took me by surprise.

"What's funny?" I whispered her, I couldn't make my hands to leave her skin, I kept tracing the bruise which were getting bigger with the time. Bella didn't answer, and instead of that I saw how the skin of her neck reddened, a beautiful color red coloring her white skin, her face had gotten warmer than usual, surely the skin of her face was as red as her neck's.

In that moment I hated myself so much, that not even the flow of blood coloring her skin, made my mouth to swim in venom, and my muscles to tense as if to attack.

Her stomach growled again, and I heard my Bella's musical laugh came out of her lips. What was the funny thing? Bella answered to my question. "You just can't escape being human for very long."

Bella said nothing else. I couldn't laugh for her "joke" as she for sure considered it. Escape being human? What had she considered herself in the last hours? Some kind of super woman who could stand anything? Well, she was wrong. She kept being the same human from two hours ago, or ten ago, or two days ago when she was saying to me in front of the altar "I, do".

Yes, there was something completely wrong with the functioning of her brain and logic. I couldn't see her expression, I had my chin over her head, that suddenly had become tense with her comment. My eyes were looking at the frothy canopy. I felt Bella moving her head from under my chin, I felt her movement, and her eyes now studying carefully my face. Her heart stopped for a second, then started beating again, something in me had surprised her or scared her. Her breathing kept still.

"Edward." Bella told me, her voice sounded like she had a lump in her throat. "What is it? What's

wrong?" She asked me, and it bothered me, was it that she wanted me to get out the words from my mouth. To tell her how much damage had I done to her.

"You have to ask?" My tone came out of my mouth harsher than I intended. But I couldn't pretend I was okay. Bella was playing dumb, trying to hide her real feelings for sure. I had already said it, she wasn't going to fool me that time. Bella kept still thinking for a moment. Her expression changed so radically that I almost couldn't bear it. The lines in her forehead grew more pronounced. Did she really not understand my bad mood? She didn't or didn't want to accept the truth?

Her eyes only told me one thing. Worry. What did she have to be worried about? Oh, of course. Knowing how much damage had I caused her in just one night. It also worried me. I didn't know exactly how much pain was suffering in that moment my Bella.

I took one of my fingers to her forehead, and soften the lines until they disappeared.

"What are you thinking?" I asked her, I didn't fully understand why her eyes were telling me she was worried. The torture I had felt all night long was coming back.

"You're upset. I don't understand. Did I… ?" Did I what? I didn't want to think that Bella wanted to blame herself of that situation. She didn't have the fault that I was a monster that couldn't control her desire, her strength to love his wife without hurting her. It wasn't her fault, was mine.

I was time for the truth.

"How badly are you hurt, Bella? The truth—don't try to downplay it." I demanded my angel. Don't let her fool you, I told myself again.

"Hurt?" Bella repeated, her voice came out of her lips louder. Surprise? Maybe she had thought I wouldn't notice that fact, and I would let it go. It was the only logic explanation I found.

I raised an eyebrow, telling her to not try to fool me. That I knew she was hurt. I had my lips pressed together, waiting for an answer from her. Bella, understanding my question, started to check her arms, her legs, was checking her body, then she tensed and flexed the muscles of each part of her body. To be honest, I didn't see in her eyes, or in her expressions any pain, but Bella had learned to hide her emotions very well. Don't let her fool you, I said to me again. Her eyes came back to my face, and they were angry. So she had notice what I was talking about. Now she was mad for what I had done to her. That was the best.

"Why would you jump to that conclusion? I've never been better than I am now." Damn! I knew it, I knew it. Just as I had feared. Bella was trying to hide the truth. Why was she doing that to me? That made feel worse than hearing her complaining, and for the first time to ask me to stay away from her. It was the least I deserved. I closed my eyes in exasperation.

"Stop that." She had to stop pretending. Please.

"Stop what?" She asked me. Did I have to say it? There was no other way. I had to make her see.

"Stop acting like I'm not a monster for having agreed to this." How many times had I told her what kind of soulless monster I was? I thought her love had changed even a little. But having agreed to that, was the last drop the glass could handle. There was no other way of considering me in that moment. I was a monster, and there was no more truth.

"Edward!" Bella whispered, and her tone was really angry now. Would she finally accept the truth of my words? "Don't ever say that." No, no, no. I couldn't seem to find the way to make see that beautiful angel the truth of my words.

"Look at yourself, Bella. Then tell me I'm not a monster." I couldn't see her eyes, how every emotion crossed her face. How frustrating! And when I was starting to believe that she would never get convinced of the reality. I heard her gasp. She was truly scared. With reason. I held my breathing, waiting for the screaming. But I heard how Bella shook her head and the feathers that had been in her head through the night began to fall down. I heard her hand taking a feather between her fingers, examining it?

"Why am I covered in feathers?" Ah, my Bella. I exhaled the air I had held, exasperation winning field inside of me. I opened my eyes and answered.

"I bit a pillow. Or two. That's not what I'm talking about." I knew my answer would confuse her. And she would try to change the subject. She didn't disappoint me.

"You… bit a pillow? Why?" I didn't want to remember how my weakness attack had almost led me to end with her precious life. Her treasured heartbeats and her breathing, everything that told me she was still alive.

"Look, Bella!" I told her almost screaming. Why didn't she listen to me? I took in my hands, one of her hands, the most delicately I could. I put it in front of her eyes so she could see what I was talking about. "Look at that."

This time I could see that Bella had noticed what I had been trying to tell her. Her eyes went to the bruises forming in her breast, from her ribs to her shoulder. Bella took her hand to her breast, put one of her fingers on it and poke the bruise, observing how it disappeared for a moment and reappeared at the next moment.

The same I had taken her hand, I took my hand to her arm. Put my fingers over every one of her bruises, letting her see that my fingers were the exact size of her bruises.

"Oh," Was all she said. She stayed pensive for a moment. She didn't say another word. It terrified to hear to her words asking me to stay away from her, that I really was a terrible monster, that she regretted had chosen me. That she hated me. I didn't know what I would do if she did it. But I also knew it would be the best. Bella was still young, she could remake her life. There were too much boys that would give everything to have the love of that beautiful angel. I didn't want to think about who would be her first option.

"I'm… so sorry, Bella." I told her in a whisper, without taking off my eyes from her bruises. "I knew

better than this. I should not have—" Images from the moment when I had realized what I had done filled my eyes. They came to the front of my mind. I wanted to yell, but I turned off the sound threatening to come out of my mouth. I just heard how my voice revolted for what I had done to my beautiful Bella. How had I been able to hurt her? "I am more sorry than I can tell you."

I would never be able to tell her what I felt in that moment. It would never come out of my mouth the appropriate words to deserve her forgiveness. There wasn't a way to ask her for it, I deserved for her to never give it to me.

I felt that all my pain, my sorrow, my shame, all were showing in my face. I couldn't stand the idea of Bella seeing me in that state, and for pity she ignored her feelings. I took an arm to my face, hiding it from her eyes.

I stayed completely still. My body seemed a stone, which really was, a lifeless stone, nothing. I tried to turn off my mind, to not think, to not remember.

Bella also stayed quiet, she wasn't sating anything. The only thing I heard from her, were her heartbeats and her breathing. It was everything that told me, screamed me she was alive. I surely seemed like a real statue. That was what I was, a lifeless statue with the possibility of moving and think, that were the only things which made me so different.

I didn't know what to do or what to say. I was waiting for Bella to hate me, to detest me. What is she thinking? I wondered. What could possibly been going through her mind. I felt so miserable that I was feeling that emotion marked in my entire body, like a big sign telling everyone about the sadness I was feeling at that moment. Sadness, rage, loath... there was nothing to show how happy I had been until a few hours ago, when the truth had let itself show in her body, those bruises were proof of the truth, the truth Bella refused to see, to accept.

Would she finally do it?

After a few minutes, Bella finally moved. She took her hand to the arm that I had in my face. Her effort was useless, even if she had tried and pulled the most she could to remove from her place, she would had never could succeed, not even an inch. I felt her hand moving all over my arm until it reached my wrist where she interwined her fingers to try to move it again. I felt how much force she exerted so she could move my arm. It was a futile try.

"Edward."

Though my entire being longed to answer to her voice, I held back. I didn't move an inch.

"Edward?"

I still didn't respond. It took me a big effort, and control to not answer to her voice. I didn't like to hear her begging for my attention, when it was all hers. I was about to give in when I heard her speaking.

"I'm not sorry, Edward. I'm… I can't even tell you. I'm so happy. That doesn't cover it. Don't be angry. Don't. I'm really f—"

Not that word. She was going to get me mad.

"Do not say the word fine." My voice was back to be as cold and harsh as the beginning. "If you value my sanity, do not say that you are fine."

"But I am." Bella whispered. You're not, I thought. Don't let her fool you, I repeated myself.

"Bella, don't." I begged her, my voice was so full of pain, all my being was full of pain. That for once I wished to be able to shed tears. To get everything out of my system.

"No. You don't, Edward." Bella almost shout. I couldn't bear to see her face anymore. And that conversation had to be face-to-face. I couldn't hide. I was the culprit and Bella the victim. I saw her cautiously, waiting to hear her next words. What would she make up to not make feel guilty?

"Don't ruin this," Too late. "I. Am. Happy." Don't let her fool you. How could I believe in her words. Even when it was what I wanted the most. I couldn't.

"I've already ruined this." There was no more truth than that.

"Cut it out." She answered me brusquely. Shutting me up. My teeth grind together and made a loud noise. Trying to stop the sudden ire that attacked me.

"Ugh!"Bella complained. What was she thinking now? "Why can't you just read my mind already? It's so inconvenient to be a mental mute!" What?

Her words took me so by surprise, that my eyes widened a little. Bella loved she was the only person which I couldn't read her mind. Why the change?

"That's a new one. You love that I can't read your mind." I told her, wishing more than ever to be able to have a glimmer through her thoughts.

"Not today." Bella told me, surprising me even more. I didn't understand anything.

I put my eyes straight to hers, trying to find the answer in them. "Why?" I told her giving up. I couldn't understand her reactions.

Bella threw her arms into the air, frustration written all over her face. Then I saw a bit of pain in her eyes, in that moment I didn't know if her pain was physical or emotional. Her hands flew to my chest, hitting me with her hands in fists. Now even her hands would hurt her. She started talking again, and her tone was upset.

"Because all this angst would be completely unnecessary if you could see how I feel right

now! Or five minutes ago, anyway. I was perfectly happy. Totally and completely blissed out. Now—well, I'm sort of pissed, actually."

Of course she had been happy, she said it herself, she was completely blissed out so she hadn't realized the damage I had caused her, but now that she was conscious about it, she was pissed. With me.

"You should be angry at me." Was all I said. There was nothing else I could tell her. That was the truth.

"Well, I am. Does that make you feel better?"

How would it make me feel better? Because even I knew she should be angry at me, I didn't bear the idea of my angel hating me.

I let out a little breath. So I could say the next thing. "No. I don't think anything could make me feel better now."

"That," Now what? "That right there is why I'm angry. You are killing my buzz, Edward."

Oh, my God! What buzz could come out of that situation?

I rolled my eyes, shook my head because I still didn't understand how she didn't understand the seriousness of the matter. I heard how Bella exhaled a big gush of air. And when she spoke again, I couldn't believe that her voice didn't have that tone that told me how mad she was.

"We knew this was going to be tricky. I thought that was assumed. And then—well, it was a lot

easier than I thought it would be. And this is really nothing." She told me while her eyes and hand went to her arm, pointing the bruises there. "I think for a first time, not knowing what to expect, we did amazing. With a little practice—"

My eyes were suddenly furious, I felt the same hatred that I felt when Bella came in for the first time into that Biology class two years ago, the same hatred towards myself. I would never be able to hate her, nothing close to that. I felt hate towards me. So good she knew I was a monster that she thought about all of that.

"Assumed? Did you expect this, Bella? Were you anticipating that I would hurt you? Were you thinking it would be worse? Do you consider the experiment a success because you can walk away from it? No broken bones—that equals a victory?"

I let all my rage came out of me, my breathing had become harder. I felt drowning in hatred. It was a good way to get it out of my system, I had to calm down. How could had been possible that Bella had wrapped me with her words, until convinced me that I wasn't going to hurt her, when she herself didn't believe it? My damn selfishness had taken me to that. I had heard in her words what I wanted to hear. There was no other explanation. How had she made it? Why had she risked her life, if she was conscious of the huge danger she had at my side? Was she masochist?

I felt the reason coming back to my mind, it was calming down. The control I was losing was coming back to me. I could control my breathing, and felt all that desperation leaving my eyes, my face.

"I didn't know what to expect—but I definitely did not expect how… how… just wonderful and perfect it was." That I wasn't expecting. Bella spoke slowly, like forcing me to hear her and believe her. I didn't know what was coming, but her voice became a whisper, and she dropped her eyes to her hands. Was she ashamed? But why? "I mean, I don't know how it was for you, but it was like that for me."

I took one of my fingers to her chin, and raised her face without making her eyes to come back to meet with mine.

"Is that what you're worried about?" I could barely said the words. Of everything she had to be worried about, she decided to worry, about me? "That I didn't enjoy myself?"

She didn't have idea of what had been for me. I didn't have words to explain it, to describe the feelings, sensations that had touched my body every second...

"I know it's not the same. You're not human. I just was trying to explain that, for a human, well, I can't imagine that life gets any better than that."

Her eyes kept down almost closed while she was explaining to me what she felt. I didn't know what to say. What she felt in that moment and what I felt were so different like water and oil. Had she really enjoyed? Was she lying to me? Was it possible that she was truly telling me the truth? If that was it, I had so much to apologize.

I waited for Bella to raise her eyes to mine, I had to tell her and for her to see in my eyes that what I was telling was the truth.

The lines in my face had disappeared, my thoughts kept thinking about the possibility that Bella wasn't lying to me. That she had really enjoyed of that pleasure without pain, maybe in that it did hurt her, but not when were one together. She hadn't complained because she had really been enjoying being mine, and to give herself physically to me, as I gave myself to her.

Her eyes raised and met mine.

"It seems that I have more to apologize for." I told her and my brow was furrowing, thinking about everything, in what my Bella felt and had misunderstood from my attitude. "I didn't dream that you would construe the way I feel about what I did to you to mean that last night wasn't… well, the best night of my existence. But I don't want to think of it that way, not when you were . . ."

I stopped at that moment, Bella's had started twisting, forming a smile while I was saying what I thought.

"Really? The best ever?" She asked me in a small voice, she seemed ashamed by my words, as if now she was the one who didn't believe my words.

It had been so long since her face had been in my hands, that with the situation softening a little bit, I couldn't stop myself from taking it in my hands. "I spoke to Carlisle after you and I made our bargain, hoping he could help me. Of course he warned me that this would be very dangerous for you." How right he was. Although I hadn't needed of his words to know that that was true. "He had faith in me, though—faith I didn't deserve."

As I expected, she started protesting.

"No, Edwa..." I put two of my fingers over her lips... and kept explaining.

"I also asked him what I should expect. I didn't know what it would be for me… what with my being a vampire." I gave her a small smile. "Carlisle told me it was a very powerful thing, like nothing else. He told me physical love was something I should not treat lightly. With our rarely changing temperaments, strong emotions can alter us in permanent ways. But he said I did not need to worry about that part—you had already altered me so completely." I smiled from the bottom of my heart now. And showed it to her.

"I spoke to my brothers, too. They told me it was a very great pleasure. Second only to drinking human blood." My forehead furrowed remembering their words, and my own after having been with her. "But I've tasted your blood, and there could be no blood more potent than that.… I don't think they were wrong, really. Just that it was different for us. Something more."

"It was more. It was everything." Bella told me, and I couldn't deny it. There was no way.

"That doesn't change the fact that it was wrong. Even if it were possible that you really did feel that way." I still didn't believe completely that Bella felt that. I felt bad for thinking it, but I couldn't help it.

"What does that mean? Do you think I'm making this up? Why?" She had to ask.

"To ease my guilt. I can't ignore the evidence, Bella. Or your history of trying to let me off the hook when I make mistakes."

Bella took my chin between my hands, and put her face closer to mine, leaving just a few inches between our faces.

"You listen to me, Edward Cullen. I am not pretending anything for your sake, okay? I didn't even know there was a reason to make you feel better until you started being all miserable. I've never been so happy in all my life—I wasn't this happy when you decided that you loved me more than you wanted to kill me, or the first morning I woke up and you were there waiting for me.… Not when I heard your voice in the ballet studio" I trembled when the memory of that terrible evening came to my mind, but Bella kept talking. "or when you said 'I do' and I realized that, somehow, I get to keep you forever. Those are the happiest memories I have, and this is better than any of it. So just deal with it."

That little frown which always appeared between her eyes formed while talking. I put my finger to soften it.

"I'm making you unhappy now. I don't want to do that." It was the last thing that I wanted, I had sworn in front of the entire world and my angel that I would make her happy all the days of her existence. I wasn't fulfilling my promise.

"Then don't you be unhappy. That's the only thing that's wrong here." Her words were true. If she was unhappy then I was unhappy. And now that I was unhappy she was too.

I closed a little bit my eyes to the truth of those words. I took a big breath, and nodded with my head. From now on I would dedicate to make her completely happy. I would never be again the cause of her sadness. "You're right. The past is past and I can't do anything to change it. There's no sense in letting

my mood sour this time for you. I'll do whatever I can to make you happy now."

Her eyes watched my face warily, I read in them distrust, I deserved it. After all... I decided to assure her that my words were true, and smiled to her.

"Whatever makes me happy?" I struggled for not thinking about what was behind her words. It saved hearing her stomach growled again. She had been hungry since she had woken up and I had prevented her to do with my bad mood.

"You're hungry." I told her rapidly, before she could refuse and ask me for something I couldn't give her. I jumped out of the bed, I watched from my peripheral sight how the feathers flew all over around. A reminder for her and the opportunity to get a new topic.

"So, why exactly did you decide to ruin Esme's pillows?" Exactly as I thought. I was about to walk through the door when her words stopped me, I turned around to see her, and she was seated in the bed shaking off the feathers covering her body and hair principally. I shook a few ones from my hair, I hadn't had a chance to take them off when I took the shower.

"I don't know if I decided to do anything last night." I told her while struggling to control my thoughts, I didn't want to remember it. "We're just lucky it was the pillows and not you." I took a big breath, and shook my head, trying to drive away the memories who we threatening with occupy all my mind.

With my eyes still on Bella, I saw her slid out of the bed, I saw her stretching, and I feared for those bruises again, of them hurting her. I gasped when I saw her standing up, her body was still naked and now I could see every of the bruises in her breast and legs. I didn't bear it and turned around immediately. Coward, I told myself. You should see what you did to her, and let well engraved in your memory. I won't happen again. I told myself over and over again, trying to convince me. I won't touch her again, not that way. My hands in fists, with impotence at not being able to do anything to relieve her pain.

"Do I look that hideous?" It wasn't definitely the best way to take the tension from the situation. It only made feel worse. My breathing had stuck in my throat, I didn't dare to turn around and see the image of what the monster was capable of doing.

I heard her footsteps moving, to the bathroom? Yes, I heard when she was in. and my breathing kept stuck in my throat, when she saw herself completely in the mirror, she wouldn't have a doubt that I was a monster. It was the best. What would she think about me? I couldn't bear the misery going on while I imagined her reaction. Bella didn't a word yet., she was surely checking every part of her body, she was inspecting how much damage I had caused her, how much pain she felt...

I was still in the same place I had been when Bella went into the bathroom. I couldn't find the necessary strength to move, to react, to come out of that trance I was in. My mind was full of images if my Bella all covered with bruises, even her beautiful face had suffered because of my strength, her lips had swollen with the force I had exerted when kissing her, it hadn't even been half the strength I could use to kiss her deeply and completely. I could kill her just for giving her a kiss. Of course I was a monster, and she was a defenseless monster.

In that moment I heard my Bella complaining. What? What was it? What did it hurt her?

In a second I was at her side.

"Bella?"

"I'll never get this all out of my hair!" She told me while pointing with her hand at her head. It was full of feathers, if the situation hadn't been so tense, I would had laughed about her head. It looked like a chicken nest... Enough, I told myself, this doesn't have anything funny. Bella started pulling out the feathers trying to clear her hair.

"You would be worried about your hair." I told her, while moving to her side and stood behind her, I could take more than ten feathers in the time she only took one.

"How did you keep from laughing at this? I look ridiculous." Bella asked me. I didn't say anything, what was ridiculous were her attempts to make me laugh at that situation. What was ridiculous was she trying to take the seriousness from everything. I kept plucking the feathers, but they were too much. Bella realized the same thing, and after a few minutes she told me.

"It's all dried in. I'm going to have to try to wash it out." Bella turned around towards my chest, and wrapped her arms around my waist. A temptation almost impossible to ignore. "Do you want to help me?"

Ay, if she knew how I wished to give her a yes for answer. But I couldn't.

"I'd better find some food for you." I tried to keep my voice calm, of not showing her how much I wanted to give her another answer, using my strength gently as to not hurt her again, I separated her arms from my waist. The warm of her skin against the coldness of mine, sent that electrical current, feeling it all over my body, I had to step away before losing control, my resolution...

I heard Bella sighing when she saw coming out of the bathroom, almost escaping from temptation, quickly out of the room. I walked to the kitchen, where I would wait for her.

I went straight to the refrigerator, searched for the necessary stuff to make some breakfast to my angel. I then heard the water falling down her body, and was even more jealous than last night, I couldn't touch her again, not until she was a vampire. The thought, and the truth in the words brought a rage attack, that I had to control immediately, my hand was holding a box with eggs and those exploded with the pressure. I quickly took something to clean the disaster and focused on remembering every recipe I had seen in Food Network months ago. I took another box with eggs, a little of, bacon?, yes, bacon, that was how they had called it, and the some cheddar cheese, the result would be omelet, or that was what I had seen... it was harder than I thought. Bella seemed so good at cooking. I couldn't even check that it was good, it seemed disgusting, even the smell.

After a minutes I heard Bella's footsteps towards the kitchen. I was still standing in front of the stove, finishing her breakfast, making sure the texture was the right one, I saw it over and over again until I was sure it looked like the one from the recipe.

Just when I was setting the omelet in a plate, Bella's stomach growled again. I chastised myself for letting her to be starving now. It wouldn't happen again.

"Here." I told my Bella as much as myself. I turned around to see my Bella, she was wearing a white dress that I had never seen between her clothes. Alice.

I gave her a smile and set the plate on the table. Bella sat in one of the chairs, I heard how she exhaled the smell from the eggs, for what I saw, it seemed to have good odor. A good sign. She took a bite to her mouth and saw in her eyes how it caused her pain, they were still very hot for her throat. It seemed that she didn't care, because she kept eating the same way. I sat across from her.

"I'm not feeding you often enough."

In her moth were still a few bites, I heard how she swallowed and fell down her throat.

"I was asleep. This is really good, by the way. Impressive for someone who doesn't eat."

"Food Network." I told her as an explanation, I showed her the smile I knew she loved.

I saw something in her that changed, a glimmer of happiness. I was behaving more normal, as she knew me, maybe seeing me like that made her happy.

"Where did the eggs come from?" She asked me.

"I asked the cleaning crew to stock the kitchen. A first, for this place. I'll have to ask them to deal with the feathers.… " I told her, while looking straight to the place where was the bedroom, I tried not to remember. I distracted myself with the fact that Bella didn't say anything. She maybe had really been scared for my attitude, she better didn't say something that could alter me.

After a few short minutes, Bella had eaten everything I had cooked for her. I didn't know how much did humans eat, but it seemed to me that it was too much food for her to eat alone. I remember that the recipe said that the ingredients where enough for two people.

"Thank you." Bella told me, she inclined over the table towards myself. I knew her intention as soon as her arms touched the table and started to close her head to mine. I kissed her for a short moment, sweetly and controlled. But the memories from the last night invaded me, my body went still, and I took my lips from hers.

Bella pressed her teeth together to my reaction.

"You aren't going to touch me again while we're here, are you?" My Bella obviously asked me, but her tone confused me. I had to suppress laughing when hearing her tone. It was more like an accusation. Like a stubborn child crying to his parents to let him watch the TV.

I didn't know if to answer her question or to do what. The I smiled a little, raised my hand and took it to the soft skin of her face, I caressed a little her skin, brushing it softly. Bella laid her face over my hand, and said.

"You know that's not what I meant."

I knew she would say that. I sighed, not wanting to answer her very much, but necessary. I dropped my hand.

"I know. And you're right."

And with firm conviction, I swore to her as I had sworn to myself. I tried to make her hear in my voice that she wouldn't change my mind.

"I will not make love with you until you've been changed. I will never hurt you again."

I won't hurt you again. I swore again to myself.

* * *

**Hope you had enjoyed... it may be a little repetitive, it's just that I feel Edward overreacted just because a few bruises, he didn't actualy hurt her... well...**

**See you soon!**

**Bye!**


	7. Chapter 6, distractions

**Hi guys! Sorry for taking so long in uploading this chapter, and the next one. It's been crazy writing these two chapters. Well, here it is.**

**Enjoy, and hope you like it. Please review, I love to see that you like what I write.**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

Chapter 6. DISTRACTIONS

Since that day I committed myself to make everything that was possible to make my Bella happy, that she had the best honeymoon anyone had ever had, with me.

The beaches from the Antarctic were beautiful, and the sight Isle Esme gave us had no description. Bella was delighted with the island, I saw her face shining, not in the same way than mine, under the sun rays, she was happy, and that was what it mattered. The only thing I cared about. There were too many places where to take her, though it wasn't an island too big, but it had enough to achieve my goal, well, two goals. Made her happy and distracted her. To keep her mind elsewhere, not thinking about what I feared she would, another disastrous night. And though I was longing painfully to have her again for me, I couldn't do it. So I dedicated my time in showing her the most beautiful places in the island, slowly, we cover every mile of distance, as much in land as in water.

The first day everything worked out wonderfully, I decided I would take it slowly, Bella was human and any kind of activity that required too much physical activity exhausted her. A point of advantage for my purpose. We were laid over the beach great part of the afternoon. We put a sunshade over us, principally because of the shine my skin had with the sun rays, sometimes Bella stayed laid at my side, her arms over my chest, and her legs interwined with mine, trying to keep a little coldness so the heat wouldn't be too much to her. That position didn't bother me at all, I loved to feel her skin against mine. Her eyes often kept glued to my face, and I had to remind her that the sight the island gave us also deserved a little of her attention, my words caused a beautiful color red to appear on the skin of her face.

Miraculously, that night after our wedding night, Bella didn't speak about the sex topic again. I was grateful, principally because I didn't want to give her a negative answer though was necessary. I hated to take things away from Bella, but I wouldn't give her that for anything in the world, not until she was a vampire.

Bella seemed to not want to talk about the subject, and it wouldn't come out from me either. The worst of all, it was that even when Bella wasn't speaking about directly, she did it other way which was worse for my poor control those days. It was extremely hard for me to let her think that I didn't notice the clothes she chose to wear for sleeping... the truth was that it was a radical change, if I desired her when she wore those old sweaters full with holes when I met her, the clothes that had packed -Alice, surely- didn't help me to restrain myself.

Two days after we arrived Isle Esme I decided to take Bella snorkeling, the beaches called and there was too much to keep her busy. It was time to put my plan into action, before Bella decided to start arguing the subject, that now was almost forbidden.

The place was really wonderful, y I knew Bella enjoyed more than she let me see, wanting for sure to be at home saving all the necessary energy to discuss our situation, I always found words to convince her to come out and enjoy the view. That day, we were swimming in the beach, made snorkel, and simply enjoyed each others company.

"Edward, could you please come out to the surface?" Her voice, as usual, gasping, after several minutes holding her oxygen.

My angel begged me one of the many occasions that I submerged more time than what she would had been able to hold without oxygen.

"What is it?" I said Bella, in a mocking and playful tone. "Can't you hold a little longer?"

Bella just rolled her eyes everytime I joked about the fact that she was humanly incapable of holding the oxygen. My smiled grew bigger, and her heart became uncontrollable. When I smiled again everytime I heard it, Bella couldn't but to smile with me.

The dusk was getting closer, and after spending so many hours inside the water. Most of the time Bella was between my arms wrapped around her body, her arms around my body, sometimes her hands clung to my neck while I kissed her. It was paradise, I wouldn't had minded spending the rest of my existence that way, while I was with her, I was happy. Bella ended up being exhausted because of the activity we made sometimes, we often swam in circles until my angel begged me to stop a while, she laid over the surface while my arms held her under the water. It was always a relieved from the always hot water in which we swan, the coldness of my body.

Bella ended up so exhausted at the end of the day, that she didn't even have the force enough to argue with me about the sex topic. That same night, my plan didn't work completely, she tried to make me change my mind. Her first try, she had been reasonable, because she tried to make me see that she hadn't resulted drastically, serious or permanently injured. She even compared what she felt, with the pain you feel after did some exercise too much, and the next day you can't even move, she had told me that what she had felt that morning had been not even half painful. She didn't convince me.

Bella fell asleep after a few minutes, all night long she stayed in the same place, in the same position in my arms. She needed the cold from my body to bear the hotness from the island. Her dreams kept absent or quiets, she didn't speak or move throughout all the night.

The third day, I decided that the entertainment for that afternoon had to be exhausted, more than the normal one, our argues about the situation were going to keep increasing, I was sure, if Bella had already tried it once the last night, now she wouldn't stop until make her goal. Well, we'd see who was the most stubborn.

For that day I decided to take my Bella exploring the jungle, there were many place where I wanted Bella to see. In the south zone of the island was a place where the parrots lived, I had never been there, but I had seen it in some of the memories of Esme and Carlisle when they had been here years ago.

Bella complained most of the time, insisting that she would had preferred spent a quiet day in the house, watching one of the DVDs, just enjoying an afternoon together. But I knew it didn't bother her the view the island offered, it was partly really similar to what she had learned to love from Forks, everything was green around us, and though it had a lot of exotic colors, the palm trunks and some bushes weren't full of mould, the green reigned.

That time wasn't like our trip to our meadow like the first time, that I didn't even dare to touch her or to walk too near to her, I just helped her when some fallen tree-trunk didn't let Bella to keep going without danger for Bella to fall down. This time, we walked hand-in-hand throughout all the trip, stopping along the way in places where Bella got delighted with the vegetation, or just to rest. I sometimes held her in my arms, she didn't allow it often, Bella still had problems with treating her as if she was weak or as if she needed protection. Which was the case.

We had spent great part of the afternoon covering every mile of the jungle, but Bella wasn't actually fast going through the jungle, the dusk would catch us too soon as to have time to take her to see the parrots, she wouldn't enjoy it, so we decided to come back. It didn't matter, the journey through the jungle that day had been enough to get her exhausted. She had almost fallen asleep while dining, I didn't know how she made to keep her eyes open, but she made it. It started again the same arguing from last night. She changed her strategy that occasion.

"Edward, please." Bella begged me, after coming out of the bathroom, with one of the who-knows how many pieces of lingerie that my sister had packed for Bella. I was barely able to hold me back.

"No." Was my only answer.

Bella knew that my weakness was in the way she begged me, she had already made it once. Please, that word destroyed my will, but not now.

"Please, Edward. Let's just try, just try."

"Bella, do not insist."

"But..."

"But nothing, I've told you over and over again no. You won't make me change my mind."

Bella had pouted, her lips looked so tempting... but no. I wouldn't give up. Bella had given up, for at least that night. The plan of exhausting her was working. She didn't spend a lot of time trying to convince when the sleep got over her and she fell asleep.

Every day was the same, we spent all the afternoon covering the island. The fourth day I had taken her to see the parrots, it had taken us half the time to get there, because we didn't have to stop as much as the first time, Bella already knew the path, and it was easier for her. When we came back to the house, she had fallen asleep with her head over the table. Her face had fallen by mere inches almost over the plate of food. I had to take her to the bedroom in my arms. For a moment I had thought that I was free of her attempts of seduction, when she felt herself on the bed and in my arms, her eyes opened, she quickly apologized and told me that she had to go to the bathroom, her moment for being human, she told. I heard how she got prepared to come into the bed.

It was the same as last night, she tried it again, her pleads were almost unbearable, but her body still had the evidence from the first time and the reason why I had to tell her no.

The next days kept passing the same way, we kept covering the island, we were spending the afternoon swimming in the blue waters the Antarctic offered us, we stayed laid down over the sand until the sun hid completely. In an occasion I took Bella to one side of the beach where the dolphins swam close to the edge, most of the time I stayed on land, because the dolphins, with their sharp sense of self-preservation, swam away everytime I put a foot in the water. Bella didn't care about it, because everytime I went into the water with her, was because she asked me to. I still gave her the opportunity to enjoy swimming with the dolphins.

During the nights, the situation didn't get better. Every night that passed, Bella chose an even more revealing piece than last night, that didn't make it any easier for me. The bruises in her body were disappearing in some places, in others one they almost didn't stand out, it almost made her skin as perfect as before that night. And everytime she came out of the bathroom, ready to put into action her plan, it took me an unbelievable amount of effort to not let her see how much it affected me to see her that way. It was good I could hear every one of her breaths and movements, and I knew perfectly when she would come out of the bathroom, and that had me prepared.

After being in the island for six days, Bella had tried to convince me again. Was it that she wasn't going to give up? Until the moment I hadn't given her reason to believe that she would do it.

"Edward!"

"What?" I asked her in an innocent tone. As if not understanding what she was talking about.

"Listen to me very well. You know better than to think there's danger..."

"That's not true. And now you listen to me very well." I told her when I saw she was about to interrupt me.

"Don't even try, you're not going to make it."

"Agh!"

"Just hear to what I say, Bella. You'll soon be a vampire and you'll have everything you want." I told her while trembling internally by just thinking about it.

"Yeah, right. After a year of finally managed my thirst for human blood." Bella stood out the words human blood. It was almost the same argument she had used to convince me before our wedding.

"Preferable, than to risk for you to end bathed in blood because of _me_."

"No, Edward! That's not going to happen." Bella kept grouching. She had gotten tired of trying to reason with me or begged me.

"No. And it's my last word."

Bella tried to open her mouth to argue what I said. I put my hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"No."

"Agh." Bella kept grumbling against my hand over her lips.

I released her, and she stayed curled in my arms. Finally, giving in. For that night, at least.

I really didn't understand what was her rush, or why did she insist so much on having sex with me again. Well, actually, it wasn't totally true, because the truth was that it cost me so much work to accept that we weren't together again as she wanted it too. It just that it cost me less work to show her the contrary, that I didn't want to, when every night it burned me the desire for having her, sleeping in my arms, her skin against mine, she was so close to me, and her clothes were so thin...

I interrupted myself the thought in that moment, I couldn't allow myself to get lost in the fantasy of having her again. But that night, my desires of having her were finishing with my will. I didn't know how much longer I could take, and Bella wouldn't do it any easier. I was dying to see her coming out of that door, and to find out what she had chosen to seduce me.

She was pouring a new drop of water in the glass, which was already full, it was just a matter of time for the water to pour out. As much as I wanted to try and wished it not to happen, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop it... No, I scolded myself for thinking I wouldn't be able. I had to. When Bella were a vampire, we would have all eternity to be together. A few days were nothing.

I was trying to convince myself of that, when I heard Bella shuddering about something. It were in those moments, when I got more frustrated than ever that I couldn't read her thoughts.

Why did she shudder?

I knew it was useless to ask myself that, so I gave up.

After a few minutes, I heard Bella preparing herself to get out of the bathroom. I held my breath, waiting for my Bella to come out. I heard how she opened the door, and knew that if heart would had been able to beat, it would had stopped in that occasion, from expectation... the I saw her.

I couldn't help the face I made, I felt how my eyes almost came out of their sockets. I quickly got the control back, and tried to put a poker face. Wow. There were no more words, Bella was simply the most beautiful woman in the world, and she was mine. How could I bear to not give in to her wishes? I didn't know if that occasion I would make it, but if I failed, wouldn't be without fighting.

In her eyes I saw the satisfaction at having a different reaction from the last few nights, when I hadn't let myself to react in front of her.

"What do you think?" She told me, while spinning, allowing me to see every one of her curves. It was being in the glory at being able to have an angel so beautiful.

How would she try to seduce me that time? It wouldn't if she tried...

I was still holding my breath, and had to clear my throat to be able to answer her. It wasn't good that I did that, that told her how much I liked to see her that way. But I had to do it so I could answer.

"You look beautiful. You always do."

I told her. The truth, of course. Bella was always beautiful, she always was. It was just that she thought I never looked at her that way. Even when she was wearing baggy clothes that didn't accentuate the curves of her body, making her looked more tempting than usual.

"Thanks." And I didn't hear in her tone something to tell me that she was glad for my reaction. Or it was maybe because of the tiredness, because she quickly climbed in the bed, and now without being able to help it more than ever, I put my arms around her. Even if the weather had been cold, and Bella would had preferred not having my arms around her, I wouldn't had been able to help it. I had the excuse of the hotness. Though in those moments I wouldn't had cared anything, not even not having excuses.

"I'll make you a deal." She told me after a few minutes, she was getting asleep, but she wouldn't get completely until she had argued her case with me again. In that I desired her, I might would give in and gave her what she asked me. No... I couldn't.

"I will not make any deals with you." I won't.

"You haven't even heard what I'm offering." Bella answered me. And I wouldn't... or would I? If she wanted something, I could surely not hold the wish back to give her something. Something it wasn't sex. Not yet.

"It doesn't matter." What is it that you want? I'll give you what you want. I told her in my mind.

Bella sighed. She really wanted it. But...

"Dang it. And I really wanted… Oh well."

I rolled my eyes at her answer. But Bella said nothing else. Her eyes closed and she was starting to fall asleep, while I was thinking over and over again about what Bella wanted to ask me. But it was useless to just wonder about it, I would never know if I didn't listen to it coming out of her lips. I had at least to know what she wanted, even if I couldn't give it to her. Even just to know...

"All right. What is it you want?"

I heard Bella gritting her teeth, and by her expression, it seemed she was holding back a laugh. She knew other one of my weaknesses, she was completely conscious of the fact.

"Well, I was thinking… I know that the whole Dartmouth thing was just supposed to be a cover story, but honestly, one semester of college probably wouldn't kill me." she told me, repeating the same words I had used so many times to try and convince her to wait. What did she want? Got me crazy? Everytime I understood her less. "Charlie would get a thrill out of Dartmouth stories, I bet. Sure, it might be embarrassing if I can't keep up with all the brainiacs. Still… eighteen, nineteen. It's really not such a big difference. It's not like I'm going to get crow's feet in the next year."

What? What way did her brain worked in? I would never understand. But I couldn't give her that, I couldn't. It wasn't worth to risk her life just to make that Bella waited a few more years. How much time would I force myself to refuse at her body if I fulfilled her wish? Or was it that she wanted me to have sex with her so she would stay human a few more years?

Bella was going to make me crazy. It wasn't enough with all she did every night to make fall in her trap. But she had to include that in the list. It was the second thing I wished the most, Bella to wait a little longer.

No. We had already made what bargained, and she wouldn't back out.

But...

"You would wait. You would stay human." I told her in a low voice. I still didn't believe she was serious. She would surely tell me tomorrow that she didn't want to wait anymore. I wouldn't fall into the trap.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I said between my teeth, it bothered me that Bella played with me and with her life so irresponsibly. Was it that she didn't understand I couldn't live without her? I was really mad at that moment. I couldn't stand it. "Isn't it hard enough without all of this?" I asked her, grabbing a fist full of the lace of her clothes in my hand, I tried not to rip it, as much as I wanted to do it and gave her what she wanted... I can't, I told myself. "It doesn't matter. I won't make any deals with you."

"I want to go to college." Bella insisted. It was useless, she wasn't going to fool me. What she wanted was me giving in and gave her what she wanted.

"No, you don't. And there is nothing that is worth risking your life again. That's worth hurting you."

Yes, there is. The desire attacking me in that moment screamed at me, but my logic said to me no.

"But I do want to go. Well, it's not college as much as it's that I want—I want to be human a little while longer."

Why wasn't I surprised? I knew very well what she wanted.

I closed my eyes, and the air came out from my nose. Why are you doing this to me? I repeated myself. Why?

"You are making me insane, Bella. Haven't we had this argument a million times, you always begging to be a vampire without delay?"

"Yes, but… well, I have a reason to be human that I didn't have before."

Yes, I would have it too. But I wouldn't give in. I had to listen to it from her, to be sure it was that.

"What's that?"

"Guess." She told me, and began crawling over the pillows, searching my lips.

It was such a tempting position. But I couldn't, it hurt not being able to give it to her. Being so weak, so coward for not trying it again, I knew perfectly well what I should and shouldn't do to not hurt her again.

I kissed her back, but I was careful not to show her the internal struggle I was having. I kissed her in a sweet way, controlling my desire to get more into the kiss, to take my hands to her face, and to touch her soft and warm skin, to intertwine my fingers through her hair, to pull her closer towards my body from the back... after a moment, I pushed her away, trying of not hurting her feelings. She hadn't gotten what she wanted. Not yet.

"You are so human, Bella. Ruled by your hormones." I told her with a smile. I had known all of that since time ago. It was something in my advantage, and my disadvantage. Bella didn't stop insisting.

"That's the whole point, Edward. I like this part of being human. I don't want to give it up yet. I don't want to wait through years of being a blood-crazed newborn for some part of this to come back to me."

Right, that was the supposedly problem. But she herself saved me. Bella yawned, she was sleepy. I smiled.

How was she supposed to want to have sex with me when she was falling asleep?

"You're tired. Sleep, love." I started to hum her lullaby, I knew that calmed her dreams, and let her sleep quicker and more quietly.

"I wonder why I'm so tired." Bella told me, insinuating something. "That couldn't be part of your scheme or anything."

She accused me. Of course it had been obvious. I laughed again, how right she was, and still she didn't stop insisting.

"For as tired as I've been, you'd think I'd sleep better."

Bella answered me, and stopped death the humming. What did she mean at sleep better? Hadn't been like that? How was it possible, if she hadn't talked, or moved any of the nights since we had arrived to Isle Esme?

"You've been sleeping like the dead, Bella. You haven't said a word in your sleep since we got here. If it weren't for the snoring, I'd worry you were slipping into a coma."

I told her, and joked about the snoring, not at all. They weren't loud and noisy snores that Bella should be embarrassed.

What she told me next perturbed me.

"I haven't been tossing? That's weird. Usually I'm all over the bed when I'm having nightmares. And shouting."

They weren't just dreams, but nightmares? It was me, surely. Hurting her, what else?

"You've been having nightmares?" I had to make sure.

"Vivid ones. They make me so tired." She told while yawning. It was really weird to me that she was sleeping so many hours. It wasn't normal, not on her. "I can't believe I haven't been babbling about them all night."

"What are they about?" I asked her, though I didn't want to hear the answer.

"Different things—but the same, you know, because of the colors." Ah?

"Colors?" What did she mean?

"It's all so bright and real. Usually, when I'm dreaming, I know that I am. With these, I don't know I'm asleep. It makes them scarier."

About me? What was it? I had to make something to drive away her fears.

"What is frightening you?"

I asked her, I had to know. The thing seemed worse than I imagined. Bella shuddered, remembering.

"Mostly . . ."

"Mostly?" Wasn't just one thing that scared her in her dreams? What had this angel done to deserve that treat?

"The Volturi."

Ah. That was it. But she didn't have to. She knew the reason. But she seemed to forget all of a sudden.

I pulled her more towards my body, hugging her with a little more force, so she felt my protection. That she didn't have absolutely nothing to be afraid of at my side.

"They aren't going to bother us anymore. You'll be immortal soon, and they'll have no reason."

Bella said nothing. She stayed quiet and laid over my chest. Her thoughts were advancing, maybe remembering what she saw every night. I didn't know what else to tell her to make her understand she didn't have anything to worry about. I would do anything to make the nightmares go away. I would sing all night long, I would keep her awake, though I knew that was impossible, Bella needed the rest.

Her expression went changing. And it killed me to see her that way, it hurt every fiber of my being, I felt my heart more dead than ever, it made unhappy to see her like that. But I couldn't seem to find a better way to take care of her dreams, I didn't have access to them, I couldn't awake her in the moment they started, I couldn't protect her from them, it was what most scared her, and I couldn't do anything about it.

Sadness invaded me, impotence, rage, everything just for not finding a way of taking her of her.

Her expression kept changing, and I felt that the sadness that was invading I transferred to my Bella, and she to me. We were like just one, what she felt I felt. It had always been that way, and would never change.

How would it be possible?

I preferred it that way, I wouldn't like being happy while she was unhappy. It would never happen that. I would never let her suffer alone, she would have me at her side the entire life. Happy or unhappy, healthy or sick, rich or poor, as I had promised before the altar, before her family and my family, before the entire world.

"What can I do to help?" I asked her urgently, when I saw desolation didn't leave her factions.

But Bella shook her head. "They're just dreams, Edward."

Always trying to be the strong one.

"Do you want me to sing to you? I'll sing all night if it will keep the bad dreams away."

"They're not all bad. Some are nice. So… colorful. Underwater, with the fish and the coral. It all seems like it's really happening—I don't know that I'm dreaming. Maybe this island is the problem. It's really bright here."

If the island was the problem, I could fix that in that same moment.

"Do you want to go home?"

"No. No, not yet. Can't we stay awhile longer?"

If she wanted it that way, I couldn't refuse.

"We can stay as long as you want, Bella."

I told her as a promise, her wishes were like orders to me.

"When does the semester start? I wasn't paying attention before."

Oh, again with that. I sighed, and didn't answer. I started humming her lullaby again. But her breathing and heartbeats told me she was already asleep.

I spent the night thinking about what she was dreaming that scared her so much. She had told that the Volturis. What did she dream about them? I wanted to know it at the time that scared me the infinite possibility that I had. And I didn't know why I felt there was something else apart from the Volturi, something she was hiding from me, that she didn't want me to know about. But what could it be?

That way I spent the rest of the night, until I heard Bella screaming, she was terrified. I saw her sitting in a quick way, she was completely scared. What was it?

"Bella?" I told her in a whisper, not wanting to scare her more. I put my hands at her sides, trying to shake her to make her come to reality. "Are you all right, sweetheart?"

"Oh." Bella gasped, and without even guessing what would happen, she began crying, the tears were falling down her face uncontrollably, she still didn't answer me. Was she in shock? The way she had waken up had scared me, her scream, her tears... scared me even more.

"Bella! What's wrong?"

I took my hands to her face, my fingers caressing the skin where her tears were leaving a wet trail. It didn't matter how many times or how fast I wiped the tears, more tears kept falling. I didn't see Bella recovering her control.

"It was only a dream."

It came out from Bella a sob that made her voice to break when she answered me, tears were still falling down her face. Her face looked more desolated than when she was telling me about her dreams. It must had been something really bad to cause her so much sorrow, so much fear.

"It's okay, love, you're fine. I'm here." I told her, while rocking her, trying to calm her down, to assure her everything was okay, truly. "Did you have another nightmare? It wasn't real, it wasn't real."

"Not a nightmare." What? Her words confused me. She shook her head, and her hands went to her eyes, scrubbing them, trying to wipe away the tears that were still left. "It was a good dream." She told me, and her voice broke again.

How could it had been a good dream with her reactions?

"Then why are you crying?" I asked her confused. I didn't understand her logic.

"Because I woke up." She answered me, and took her hands to my neck, where she wrapped them, her face against my throat still sobbing.

I was still worried for what she had dreamed, it didn't convince me that it had been a good dream, if it made her cry that way. I laughed at her words, but in it could be heard what I felt.

"Everything's all right, Bella. Take deep breaths." How to make her calm down?

"It was so real," She told me while starting to cry again. "I wanted it to be real."

"Tell me about it, maybe that will help."

Something I had to do to calm her down. Maybe talking to her would help her.

"We were on the beach. . . ." I felt how Bella pulled away from my throat. She put her face in front of mine at a few inches so she could see me, her eyes were still full of tears. It was a heartbroken image.

"And?"

"Oh, Edward . . ." She told me, her eyes blinking, trying to remove the tears she still had in her eyes.

"Tell me, Bella." I begged her. There had to be something to make her feel better. The pain that was in her eyes was killing me, her voice saturated with the same pain that I saw in her beautiful chocolate brown eyes.

Bella didn't answer. It frustrated that my angel didn't speak about it, there had to be something bad. Not good, like she had told me, she didn't want me to worry. But it was worse that she didn't tell me.

My angel started kissing me, and I kissed her back. I wanted so much to continue, but I stopped. I couldn't. Bella felt I was pulling away and grabbed my shoulders, trying to stop me from pulling away. But my strength was too much for her. How was it possible she kept trying?

"No, Bella." I told her, while I looked her into the eyes, it worried me the reaction she had. Her eyes were still full of sorrow and pain. Something I didn't understand. Was it because of the dream or because I didn't give in?

Bella dropped her arms at her sides, releasing me. In her eyes I saw more, she had given up, but the tears and the pain were still in her face. Everytime getting worse, the sob coming out of her lips getting louder. I didn't know what to do. It hurt me not having her in my arms, not being able to comfort her like she wanted,

"I'm s-s-s-orry." She could barely told me. Her voice breaking between sobs.

The control was escaping me, I felt it disappearing, one word from her and she would have like she wanted. I pulled her into my arms, and hugged her strongly against my chest.

"I can't, Bella, I can't!" I almost felt my own voice breaking, the tears I could shed were trapped inside of me. Just one word... I can't, but I want... I thought.

"Please." Her words came out of her lips barely, her face over my skin. I felt the trembling of her voice and her breath over my chest. "Please, Edward?"

And I couldn't refuse. I gave in with a growl. I couldn't believe I was giving in. That I was give myself to her again. But my desire was as unbearable as hers. I took my lips against her and made her mine again.

…

The oddest part of the situation was that it didn't hurt how it should had lost.

The first thing I did when Bella fell asleep, was to check if I hadn't hurt her more than what I had the first time. Her bruises were still the same as before, and couldn't be seen new ones, for the moment. I would be keeping an eye on her and ever change all night and day. Although deeply inside I knew that my worrying had been unnecessary, I had given in, because I was sure that I wouldn't hurt her again, I perfectly knew what I should and shouldn't do to not hurt her. The necessary strength that I had to exert every moment and in every part of her body. I was a little bit more confident. That was what had convinced me. I had been thinking about it for the last few days, but I had managed to control my desire, until that night. Bella had done it much more than unbearable, more than that, for that reason I couldn't refuse when I saw the tears streaming down her face, the way she begged me and asked me for what she wanted.

Bella was laid over my chest, just as it had been the first night. The white sheet was covering up to her lower back, I had my arms surrounding her. And time to time I saw in her hair, in the sheets or over the bed splinters from the wood that I had ripped when trying to channel my strength to another place that wasn't Bella. Surprisingly Bella noticed nothing, at any moment she stopped when the wood being ripped from its place made an scandalous noise, my angel was really into the moment.

To remember that the attention of my Bella when she was with me couldn't be tore from me, made a big smile crossed my face.

That time had been the same or better than the first time, I could enjoy more of her, I wasn't that worried like the first time, without knowing what to expect, now I knew what I should do, and what resulted loosing that time was the bed.

It had been so enjoyable having her again with me, feeling the same emotions running through me while Bella did the same. It even lasted more than the first time. And that told me that Bella didn't want it to end as much as I didn't want it either. Her lips never left my skin, when they weren't against mine, they were over the skin of my throat, all my neck, my chest, everything she wanted. She could have anything she wanted, I didn't mind. I was too happy at her side. Her hands in my hair, my face, my neck, my back...

How could I had borne so long?

That didn't matter anymore. I wouldn't refuse to her desires again, never. If everything resulted as I was imagining, Bella with no more bruises or pain, there would be no reason to refuse. I loved her and she loved me, it was the most natural.

I spent all the night admiring that angel that had been given to me. Remembering every moment from that night, every touch, every caress, every kiss, every moan that had escaped her lips when I did exactly what she wanted, everytime her lips touched me, her hands, every electrical current that ran through me at feeling her with me, it never left me, even in those moments I felt it, by just having her warm skin against my cold skin.

I didn't get tired of remembering, and my hands didn't leave her skin...

At certain time in the early morning, I raised from the bed to take a shower, and to throw away the rest of the wood pieces from the headboard. When I was done, which didn't take me more than five minutes, I was immediately back to her side. As if we had never separated. Her body didn't have a chance to react to the hotness, when the coldness of my skin was back.

The had risen already, it were the first hours of the morning, and I kept watching how the skin of my Bella was the same, with no changes. There were no bruises to mark her that day, they were the same ones from the last time. I hadn't hurt her. The happiness I had felt moments ago just increased, it was the only thing that I was missing to be able to fully enjoy of the gladness that was filling me. I felt like I was going to explode of happiness. Now everything was perfect.

I knew I would be able to be with her again, without worrying about hurting her, about losing control. I could love her and let her love me completely, to enjoy of each others. There was nothing better than that truth.

Would it be that Bella still wanted to be human for a while longer?

No, I told myself. Bella had just said it to be with me again. Don't let yourself fall into hope that she had been honest with you. But I couldn't help it. I would show myself neutral to her decision, unless she showed me that that was what she really wanted, and that she hadn't said it just to convince me.

The possibilities that Bella enjoyed of a few more years as human, that she didn't have to lose the possibility of keeping in touch with her parents, and not just by phone, that she could go to college, that we could be like real newlyweeds, and to enjoy of the sweetness of that, without danger that the eternity wouldn't get to us when she was ready to leave her human days behind. That she didn't miss of doing something or knowing something while she was still human just because she had rushed to turn into a monster. I could never really see her as a monster, as I saw myself. It was sometimes difficult to see at persons like my family as monsters. We were so different from other vampires, fighting to keep our human side, it was something the others didn't care about. But Bella would be the purest and clearest vampire that in our history had existed, I would take care of that.

Hours passed, and after been deeply asleep for twelve hours, I heard her heartbeats changing minutely, and heard how she struggled to keep her breathing even. She didn't want me to realize that she was awake. Before she was completely conscious, when hearing the change, I removed my arms from her back and took them behind my head and put my eyes to the ceiling. I knew that would worry her. But I was in so such a good mood, that I wanted to tease her.

After a few minutes, I heard how her eyes opened, and felt her eyes in my face, I didn't turn. I then felt her pulling away from me, and I didn't like it. I kept my better poker face, without allowing her to see what I felt o thought in the moment. It cost me a lot of effort not to laugh about her actions. She looked like a scared child, waiting for his parents to give him a punishment after had done something he shouldn't had done.

"How much trouble am I in?" She asked me in a small voice. Waiting for the punishment. Ha, she didn't have any idea about the change that morning.

"Heaps." I told her teasing. I turned my head to finally see her, and showed her a smile that told her she didn't have anything to worry about. I felt smug that morning. She was mine.

My Bella sighed, and in it could be heard how my word was a relieve. What did she think I would do to her when she woke up? "I am sorry, I didn't mean… Well, I don't know exactly what that was last night." She told me, her voice sounded honest. It had actually been necessity, I didn't doubt it, it was the same one that I felt.

Bella shook her head. May remembering everything that had happened last night. And I remembered something else.

"You never did tell me what your dream was about."

Curiosity was killing me.

"I guess I didn't—but I sort of showed you what it was about." Bella answered me with a little laugh, nervous?

Was it that...?

Amazing.

"Oh." I told her while my eyes were widening with surprise. It was... "Interesting."

I couldn't blame her, if I would had been able to dream, I think I would had been the same thing.

"It was a very good dream." She told me in a whisper when I didn't say anything else. I had been thinking about her dream and what I would had dreamed. Of course it was very good, if she said so.

"Am I forgiven?" She asked me after a few seconds of silence.

I was still considering fine to tease with her. How not to forgive her? I couldn't.

"I'm thinking about it."

Bella sat in the bed. I saw how her eyes ran around the place. Looking for feathers? I laughed internally, when she saw what it was. But it didn't pass much time, she barely had sat when she fell back to the pillows, in her back.

What time was it? I instantly got worried.

"Whoa… head rush."

I put my arms around her. It might had been the bright light. Or that she had slept so long. It was just a rush, I told myself. Don't overreact.

"You slept for a long time. Twelve hours."

"Twelve?" She asked me, but in her tone there was no surprise. It wasn't odd since we had arrived that she slept so many hours.

I kept speaking, trying to guess what had caused the dizziness. Maybe that she hadn't eaten. I didn't know. But while I tried to guess, I watched how she tried to check there was nothing to worry about, and thought, that in her opinion, she did it with me not noticing it.

Her eyes went to her arms first, looking at the bruises that were still there. I suppressed my laugh. She then pretended to stretch as someone does at waking up. It seemed there was nothing to worry about. I saw it in her actions, she didn't try again another way of finding something new.

"Is the inventory complete?"

I asked her, half teasing, half serious. Though I had some measure of confidence that I hadn't hurt her, I had to hear it from her.

Bella nodded with her head, in a sheepish way at realized I had noticed what she was doing.

"The pillows all appear to have survived." Bella told in the same sheepish way. Yes, the pillows and only you.

In that moment came to my mind the moment in which I had given in to Bella, how my hands had ripped off her nightgown, to make her mine...

"Unfortunately, I can't say the same for your, er, nightgown." I told her while inclining my head towards the end of the bed, to show her where to see to know what I meant. The crime proof. I didn't know why I had decided to leave the remains of her nightgown over the sheets. It had been the one till the moment I had enjoyed the most to see on her body. Black and lacy, it made stood up her beauty exceptionally. I would miss to see it on her.

"That's too bad, I liked that one."

Tell me about it.

"I did, too."

"Were there any other casualties?" She asked me in the same timid way than moments ago. Wrong question. It embarrassed me a little, the good thing was that I couldn't blush, because I would compete against her beautiful color red.

"I'll have to buy Esme a new bed frame."

I told her, while turning to see over my shoulder the missing pieces of wood from the headboard. Bella followed my look, and was surprised. I wasn't.

"Hmm." Bella said frowning. "You'd think I would have heard that."

"You seem to be extraordinarily unobservant when your attention is otherwise involved."

"I was a bit absorbed." Bella said to me, while that beautiful color red gave her color to her cheeks.

I took one of my hands to her cheeks, that were boiling with the blush of the moment. They were adorable. I sighed, thinking about how much I loved the color rising in her cheeks every time she was embarrassed or excited.

"I'm really going to miss that."

Bella was watching my face. In her eyes I saw how they were looking for something in my face. She was still worried that I was mad at her. But now I couldn't, not with her. I was never mad at her. I couldn't even be mad at myself, because after all, I hadn't hurt her, and that was all that mattered.

"How are you feeling?"

She asked me. I almost heard, are you really not mad at me? In her tone. I laughed, I couldn't help it.

"What?" She asked me when I laughed instead of answered her.

"You look so guilty—like you've committed a crime."

It was exactly how she looked.

"I feel guilty." Well, I still could see her emotions perfectly in her face.

"So you seduced your all-too-willing husband. That's not a capital offense."

I still hadn't had enough, while Bella still felt guilty. Her face was priceless.

Her cheeks blushed deeper when she heard my words.

"The word seduced implies a certain amount of premeditation."

That I didn't have it? Wasn't that what she had been trying to do for the last few nights?

"Maybe that was the wrong word." I told her though I knew it was like that.

"You're not angry?" Well, about time to ask it directly?

But I had already been enough. She didn't have to feel guilty. Not when I wasn't actually angry. What an impression I should had left her he first time that she was so worried for my reaction. I smiled at her.

"I'm not angry." I answered her honestly. Waiting for her doubt. Always doubting of my answers. But I had the fault for her lack of trust.

"Why not?"

My angel asked me. Still not understanding my change.

"Well . . ." I stopped a minute. What did I tell her first? What was most important to me. "I didn't hurt you, for one thing. It was easier this time, to control myself, to channel the excesses." My eyes went to the headboard again. Remembering. "Maybe because I had a better idea of what to expect."

A smile spread across her face, and there was something else in it. Her full of, hope? I tried not to think about what she was going through her mind.

"I told you that it was all about practice."

I rolled my eyes when I heard to her answer. Though it was true, in that she was right. I couldn't deny it. And I loved it.

In that moment her stomach growled, as usual in the mornings. I laughed of the situation, and how similar and different it was from that morning.

"Breakfast time for the human?" I asked her, remembering that I hadn't hunted myself. It would be best to do it as soon as possible.

"Please." Bella answered me while she gave a little jump animatedly out of the bed. The dizziness came back, maybe. Because Bella staggered and if it wasn't because I caught her in my arms just in time, she would had fallen into the dresser.

"Are you all right?"

"If I don't have a better sense of equilibrium in my next life, I'm demanding a refund."

She told me ignoring my question. Wanting to take the situation as something normal. Her disequilibrium didn't have anything to do, it had never been caused by headrushes.

Still, we let it pass. We walked towards the kitchen hand-in-hand, I couldn't believe I was so happy, I hadn't been that happy since she had told me I,do in front of the altar, because our first night in the island I had stained it with my pessimism and with everything I caused her the first time. Now, everything was more than perfect.

Bella cooked that occasion, she was also in a good mood. Happy. And she got me infected with it, as I might got her infected.

She chose to have for breakfast eggs again. Since when did she like them so much, wasn't it that she didn't get tired of them? She put them in a plate just barely a few minutes after she had started cooking, I might hadn't been a expert or anything, not even being able to taste them to know if they were ready, but it had taken myself a few more minutes, and the recipe too.

"Since when do you eat eggs sunny-side up?"

"Since now." She answered me.

"Do you know how many eggs you've gone through in the last week?"

I asked her while inclining towards under the sink and take the trash bin out of it that was full with the boxes where the eggs came. She had eaten a lot alone. It was weird.

"Weird," She told me when she swallowed a bite she was chewing while I talked. "This place is messing with my appetite." And your sleep and equilibrium. Even she wanted to pass it off as something normal for her about the equilibrium, she didn't fool me. And her dream, well, that I had noticed since the first night. "But I like it here. We'll probably have to leave soon, though, won't we, to make it to Dartmouth in time? Wow, I guess we need to find a place to live and stuff, too."

Again with the same. I went and sat at her side, to keep the conversation, or end it, actually.

"You can give up the college pretense now—you've gotten what you wanted. And we didn't agree to a deal, so there are no strings attached."

Bella let the air out, snorting at my answer. What did that mean?

"It wasn't a pretense, Edward. I don't spend my free time plotting like some people do. What can we do to wear Bella out today?" Bella tried to quote me, and her voice and the charm of her face made it more adorable. It made me laugh. That was true. That was how I had spent the last days. "I really do want a little more time being human." It then was true. Why? As if to answer to my question, Bella leaned over the table, her eyes on my chest, and outstretched one of her hands, her finger running up down my chest. An electrical current crossed me by the exact place where her finger touched. "I have not had enough."

I knew it.

Was that it, all the reason she had for continuing to be human?

"For this?" I asked her while catching the hand that was still going down my chest. "Sex was the key all along?" I teased with her, while rolling my eyes. I should knew better. "Why didn't I think of that?" I asked her in a sarcastic way. "I could have saved myself a lot of arguments."

I was sure. Bella was so human and I loved it. Why would she want to leave it now?

"Yeah, probably." She told while laughing.

"You are so human."

"I know." Of course she knew, that was why she still wanted to be. I wouldn't mind. There were so many things I wanted to show her and share with her while she was still human. Like college...

Was she talking seriously? The idea excited me, I started to want to smile, but I had to be assured first, before letting hope growing inside me.

"We're going to Dartmouth? Really?"

"I'll probably fail out in one semester." So that was a yes?

"I'll tutor you." I told her with a big smile. Finally Bella accepted my ideas. "You're going to love college."

It was so different from high school, and at my side, I wouldn't let her regret having decided it.

"Do you think we can find an apartment this late?"

Of course we can, love, I thought. But that I hadn't told her, if she had known before this, that I had already had everything prepared to force her to go, she would had strangled me. If it were possible. Guilty showed itself in my face, I couldn't hide it.

"Well, we sort of already have a house there. You know, just in case."

"You bought a house?"

Oh-uh.

"Real estate is a good investment."

Bella just raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else about our house. Our house. How good it felt to say it.

"So we're ready, then."

"I'll have to see if we can keep your 'before' car for a little longer. . . " I told her, wishing Alice saw me asking for her favor to talk with the pertinent people.

"Yes, heaven forbid I not be protected from tanks."

I had to laugh of her words. But it was true, still human, still Guardian.

"How much longer can we stay?"

I already had thought about that, imagining that what she had said was true. It was.

"We're fine on time. A few more weeks, if you want. And then we can visit Charlie before we go to New Hampshire. We could spend Christmas with Renée. . ."

It was all a plan, and I wished Bella thought it was okay. I knew she would, Charlie was missing her since before Bella came downstairs to join me in matrimony, and Renée, hadn't seen her since that day, and before that, since we had come to Florida, I knew Renée had asked her to go and would be more than happy to see us in Jacksonville.

Bella kept thinking about something, it might had been what I just told her. But after a few minutes, I saw something different in her eyes. Indecision, was she backing out? It couldn't be, she had sound so genuinely honest when she told me she wanted to wait.

What could make her change her mind? Age again? That wasn't a problem, even if she waited ten years or as many as she wanted, I would still love her in the same way than at her short eighteen years, almost nineteen, in a few weeks would be her birthday, surely Alice would want to celebrate, I would make sure that in this occasion would be respected Bella's wish of not having gifts, or at least unwrapped. No, no party. I wouldn't risk. I wouldn't risk Bella, principally.

"A few weeks." I relaxed, that wasn't what I was waiting. What was it? I didn't have time to worry much about it or to get frustrated again by not being able to read her mind. "So I was thinking—you know what I was saying about practice before?"

I laughed, yes I did remember. I neither had had enough, and I was dying to tell her yes, but...

"Can you hold on to that thought? I hear a boat. The cleaning crew must be here."

I told her, wishing now more than ever, had told her yes, and have asked the cleaning crew to come back another day...

Bella smiled, she sure didn't miss the first part. To hold on. I was asking her to hold on, that my answer was positive, it would never be negative. Not there was nothing I couldn't give her, nothing.

"Let me explain the mess in the white room to Gustavo, and then we can go out. There's a place in the jungle on the south—"

I told her, wondering about what she would tell me about going out.

"I don't want to go out. I am not hiking all over the island today. I want to stay here and watch a movie."

Your wishes are orders, I thought. But even if we had gone out, it wouldn't had mattered, it wouldn't be to let her exhausted, at all. I could carry her all the time so any single drop of sweat or tiredness would appear in her body. I tried not to laugh about her tone, it was almost accusing me of wanting to do to her the same again. How wrong she was. But like I had said, there was nothing I could deny to her.

"All right, whatever you'd like. Why don't you pick one out while I get the door?" I told her, listening to Gustavo and Kaure at a few steps from the door, at any moment...

"I didn't hear a knock."

Because they haven't knocked, I thought. But they will.

I moved my head aside as if to listen better, and show my Bella my reason, half second later, Gustavo was knocking the door shyly, he didn't know if we were in or out the hose. I gave her a mocking and victorious smile, I was right, and raised to go and open the door.

I opened the door, and there were the two of them, Gustavo and Kaure. The man acknowledged me friendly and respectfully, but the woman was terrified, she barely could control her expression, but her eyes and most of all her thoughts told me everything. She was a woman of superstitions, and what she believed wasn't that much far to what I was, but neither close.

The two of them followed me inside the house, I had heard Bella's footsteps walking towards the shelf where the DVDs were, she stayed stood, and I imagined that she had gotten to the place she wanted.

While we were walking through the hall we were talking a little about the outside world, I didn't have much to say, I hadn't seen the news, much less television since we had arrived to the island, world could have crashed in two and we wouldn't have known. They were also telling me a little about them, and while they did it, the woman was comparing me with the superstitions from her tribe. There wasn't much to where compare, the only thing was that we were in the middle of nothing, in an island, with a beautiful woman all to my myself. She though I would end with her soon. I couldn't believe what she was thinking, it wasn't her fault, I knew. But ending with my Bella? It was too much, I couldn't stand it.

In that moment we arrived to the kitchen and I explained them what they have to do, cleaning, taking the trash and bringing more food, they told me more than what I could say. We then passed to the place where Bella was in front of the shelf with DVDs looking with the look something to watch in a few moments. When Bella heard me talking with Gustavo and Kaure, she turned to see us. When I told them that my Bella, my beautiful angel was my wife, and we were on our honeymoon, the thoughts of the woman got full of horror at realized how similar I was to her demon, she then got worried about my Bella, and last, she was terrified of being in the house, thinking about what I was.

From both of them thoughts, I saw them reflected from Bella's eyes, Gustavo smiled kindly to Bella, thinking about how lucky she was, he saw me as a good person, while Kaure didn't smile, her thoughts were still horrified. I made them a sign with the hand towards the bedroom, and we kept moving.

I hurried to give them an explanation of why the pillows were destroyed. Kaure didn't believe a single word, but without saying something, started working with Gustavo that was telling me to not worry, that everything would be ready and clean soon.

I hope, I thought. I was as anxious as Bella to be alone together again. But at least it would take them two hours to leave everything ready to go.

I walked back to the room where Bella was waiting for me, I rushed to her side when it was safe they didn't see me, and when I was at her side, I put my arms around her.

"What's with her?"

Of course she had noticed, still without being able to read minds it was more than obvious. But it didn't have importance. I just shrugged to take off the importance at her.

"Kaure's part Ticuna Indian. She was raised to be more superstitious—or you could call it more aware—than those who live in the modern world. She suspects what I am, or close enough. They have their own legends here. The Libishomen—a blood-drinking demon who preys exclusively on beautiful women."

I threw her a lewd look, showing her that I thought the same thing as her. More beautiful woman wasn't there, not for me. And she was mine.

"She looked terrified."

Observant.

"She is—but mostly she's worried about you."

More than she should. It was insulting that she thought that I would do something to this beautiful angel.

"Me?"

"She's afraid of why I have you here, all alone." I laughed in a dark way, thinking about the things that I could do to Bella, but not to kill her. You'll have to wait, I thought. I put my eyes on the shelf not very willingly. "Oh well, why don't you choose something for us to watch? That's an acceptably human thing to do."

"Yes, I'm sure a movie will convince her that you're human." Bella told me laughing.

She then stood in her tiptoes, looking to reach my lips, but not even like that she would make it, she wrapped her arms around my neck, forcing me to lean down to reach me completely, I bent towards her to give her complete access to them, looking myself to have access to hers. It passed a few seconds, and without taking my lips from her soft lips, I tightened my arms around her to lift her off the floor, so my body didn't have to be bent.

"Movie, schmovie." Bella told me while my lips sliced from her lips to her throat, and I felt her finger wound even more into my hair. I loved when she did that, it felt so good, it was almost the same as having her skin against mine.

I then saw in Kaure's mind our image. My lips over her throat as if I were going to bite her to suck out all of her blood... and she gasped so loud that even Bella heard it. I immediately released Bella and put her back on the floor. Kaure was full of feathers while she was carrying a bag full with more feathers. Her eyes were still terrified, thinking that she had arrived just in time to save Bella. Did she think I would kill her with them in the house?

She looked fixedly to Bella, her eyes almost bugging out, I saw and felt how Bella blushed with the look Kaure was giving her. The woman came out of her trance and more than nothing the fright the got, realizing that the was most certain that I hadn't been what she thought. Of course it wasn't, I thought. After a few second, her mind was completely ashamed for what had happened. She apologized with me immediately, it sounded honest, so I smiled at her and asked her not to worry about it, that it was okay with what had happened. Kaure convinced herself with my tone, and walked back for the same hall she had come in.

"She was thinking what I think she was thinking, wasn't she?"

"Yes." Was all I said, laughing.

"Here," She told me while stretching out to take one of the many movies in the shelf, it seemed that she hadn't even chosen it, just take the one where her hand fell. "Put this on and we can pretend to watch it."

Yes, just where her hand fell.

"Very honeymoonish."

I put it on quickly, and we started watching it. We sat in the sofa in front of the television. She couldn't have chosen worst movie, the truth. Although it didn't matter, I was content to be at her side, and to watch her instead of the movie. There was nothing that could distract me from her. Bella cuddled between my arms, it didn't seem she was putting much attention to the movie either.

I pretended to watch it often, when Gustavo and Kaure passed through the hall. Part of the facade.

After a while of watching or of trying to watch the movie, Bella turned to see me.

"Will we move back into the white room now?"

Should we? If we had already destroyed almost completely one room, why to keep with the next...

"I don't know.… I've already mangled the headboard in the other room beyond repair—maybe if we limit the destruction to one area of the house, Esme might invite us back someday."

Bella smiled in such a way, that I felt her face didn't suffice.

"So there will be more destruction?"

only if you want, I thought. Always her option.

I laughed of the way she was still smiling. And now I did want to know what was going through her mind.

"I think it might be safer if it's premeditated, rather than if I wait for you to assault me again."

Though I wouldn't mind if she tried to seduce as many times as she wanted. As long as it ended being the same thing.

Her pulse raced faster through her veins, her hear beating as never before. How much I loved the reaction that I always caused to her heart.

"It would only be a matter of time." She told me. Of course it would. She didn't have how right she was.

"Is there something the matter with your heart?" I teased, I perfectly knew what was the reason for the change.

"Nope. Healthy as a horse." She answered. She stopped for a moment and then continued. "Did you want to go survey the demolition zone now?"

No, I didn't, I thought, I do want. But we had to wait for a while longer yet.

"Maybe it would be more polite to wait until we're alone. You may not notice me tearing the furniture apart, but it would probably scare them."

Especially the woman. She would think I was breaking all of Bella's bones. Or worse.

"Right. Drat."

I almost laughed at her words. Drat! I also was thinking. But I knew there wasn't much time left for them to finish. While Bella kept trying to watch the movie she had chosen, for me it didn't hold any attraction that could distract me from my Bella. While the cleaning crew were here and there, I was focusing on Bella, my arms around her body, and how I didn't want to separate them from her skin, I spent all the time touching Bella's hair with my lips, the skin of her face, her throat, her shoulder, her back, now and then she would turn so I could kiss her in the lips, which I did delightedly. There was nothing better, well, there was.

When the end of the movie was getting closer, and they were announcing the "happily-ever-after" that they would never get, not like Bella and myself, that was a happily-eve-after. For the eternity together, like we had been wishing since we met. I felt how Bella was starting to get sleepy, I didn't really want to bother her, though I wished...

Gustavo's footsteps coming closer to announce us that they were ready to go, interrupted my thoughts. Without turning around to see her until his voice spoke to me, I waited. When he did it, I just raised myself a little so I wasn't laid down anymore, I didn't release Bella, and he told me they were leaving, I answered him that it was okay, and asked him to bring more food as soon as possible. He just nodded with his head, and walked towards the door where Kaure was waiting for him, happy to finally leave.

"They're finished."

I told my angel.

"So that would mean that we're alone now?" Bella, Bella, Bella. Yes, but there was something else for the moment...

"How about lunch first?"

Bella didn't answer, instead of that, she bit her lip, and almost made me change my mind. In her eyes I saw indecision of what to do first. But it was more important her health... Yes, it was. I smiled at her and took her hand to walk towards the kitchen again.

"This is getting out of hand."

I had to agree with her, that was right. I felt Bella a little bulkier than usual, her body had been forming more curves, not that it made her less desirable, on the contrary...

"Do you want to swim with the dolphins this afternoon—burn off the calories?"

I teased with her. I didn't mind at all that calorie she was eating.

"Maybe later. I had another idea for burning calories." Me too, I thought.

"And what was that?"

I almost heard the answer before it came out of her lips.

"Well, there's an awful lot of headboard left—" I didn't even give her time to finish. There was no need.

I took her in my arms, without giving her a chance to keep with her words, my lips silencing the words she was saying. I had never had so much hurry in my life, like in that moment, I ran back with Bella in my arms, as impatient as her to start where we had left in the night.

**I hope you'd liked it. Read the next one and the last one from Bella's point of view according to SM.**

**I'm writing the eighth chapter. Soon will be here.**

**See you.**


	8. Chapter 7, unexpected

**Hi guys! I'm so sorry for disappointing you again with the timing, but really, it wasn't because I didn't want to upload it. Major reasons. Well, doesn't matter, here is the last chapter. I'm on the eight one.**

**It takes me more time than the usual, because I write the chapters in Spanish and then I translate them at English. So if I write two chapters, I ended up writing four. So please a little understanding. Thanks!**

**Hope you enjoy.**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

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Chapter 7, UNEXPECTED

Bella didn't have much time that she had fallen asleep, since we had arrived to Isle Esme, the only night in which her dream had been interrupted because of the nightmares or dreams, had been last night. I didn't think it that it would happen again. So I raised slowly, leaving Bella aside, I covered her up to the half of her naked back with the sheet. I stood in front of the dresser, I opened the drawer and I took a piece of paper and a pen out.

_Mrs. Cullen._ I wrote in the half of the paper that was in the outside.

Inside _I'm hoping you won't wake and notice my absence, but, if you should, I'll be back very soon. I've just gone to the mainland to hunt. Go back to sleep and I'll be here when you wake again. I love you._

I didn't want to leave, but we would be here for a few more weeks according to what Bella wanted. So better I made sure to have well controlled the thirst. If Bella and I would still be together, like now there wasn't a problem... yes, better go hunting.

Bella seemed so peaceful and I decided to leave quickly, the faster I left the sooner I was back. It had been almost two weeks since the last time that I had hunted, my eyes would soon be a coal black, and I knew that that color wasn't Bella's favorite though it were in my eyes. I came out from the door, I walked slowly towards the beach. Remembering how nervous I had been that first night together, that had been the beginning, the beach and the moon had been witnesses of the beginning of this now precious history. I stood next to the same tree where my clothes and her towel fell down to leave us free of not necessities.

I remained contemplating for a few seconds the exact place where we had been stood before starting that night, before giving to each others. I remembered every one of our words...

I after wondered which way would be the best option, if going into the water and look for some aquatic animals could satiate my thirst, or if I went into the depths of the jungle. I chose the jungle, that was what I had told Bella, I started running rapidly, as I had never done before, the smile that always formed in my face when I ran appeared, though was incomplete without Bella at my side. The exhilaration that I felt because of the velocity, the air hitting my face, moving my hair from side to side, it didn't compare to other pleasure that I had known recently, the breathing of my Bella hitting my face when she was kissing me, her fingers winding through my hair, it was another pleasure incomparable, the memories from that night came back to my mind, and trembled from pleasure.

I would have never thought that all of this was going to happen, not even half the happiness I had known in just two years, y just because of the fact that I had given my love to my angel, y had allowed her to give hers to me.

I remembered Alice's words when I refused to believe that all of this would happen, not up to this point. But the fact that I wasn't strong enough to leave, I loved her before I had even realized it and Alice knew it before myself.

_You are so blind, Edward. Can't you see where you're headed? Can't you see where you already are? It's more inevitable than the sun rising in the east._

She had been so right. But the moment wasn't the right one, I completely refused to damn Bella in this life. Ans she had seen it before anyone of us would have decided it. That inevitable was, that without deciding my sister had already seen it. It happened when something was like that, like when she saw Jasper looking for her before he even knew he was.

In those moments I smiled remembering her words, how much happiness it caused me that they had resulted more than true. I then remembered when she told my family I wasn't strong enough to stay away from her.

_He may be just strong enough... The only thing he's not strong enough to do is stay away from her. That's a lost cause._

I had made it for a month, a long month of treating her like I didn't care about her, like it didn't even interest me to turn and see her. I failed, to fail again in a worse way months later when I abandoned her. The worst mistake of my existence, almost costing me to lose her. But same way or other she forgave me. How did I have make to deserve the love of an angel so pure?

I interrupted my thoughts when I found the smell of several animals that could make the word of that night. Meat eaters. It was better than the herbivores. There was variety, very different to what you found in the forest. If in the short time that I had been under the water, it also had been a huge variety. I was sure that Emmett would be fascinated in this place, we would have to make a journey soon with all the family, Esme would be happy, just with seeing her new family together.

_It's going to be fine, Edward. This is going to work out for the best. You deserve happiness, my son. Fate owes you that._

I remembered Esme's words, the day that I had played for the first time Bella's lullaby. Esme had been trying to encourage me about Bella. How right they all were, how right they had had before I accepted it myself. Everything had been written before I knew it, just the ending, that my angel, Bella and I would be together for the eternity. I wished I wouldn't have taken so many bad decisions in the way.

But now we were together. For ever.

It hadn't been many hours, and I felt too full, I was pooling with blood. I was satisfied to the point what I most could be. I sat for a while in the middle of nowhere, thinking and remembering. These last few weeks had been the better ones from the last two years next to my Bella. Without her I would continue being the same dead man walking and being nothing more than a monster thirsted of blood. With her by my side, I felt that I had returned to be human, or to feel like one, feeling I never thought feeling or knowing I had known them thanks to Bella. I had been reborn, it had come out the sun in my midnight when I heard her words in her sleep, when I heard that she didn't care what I was, a vampire, when she told me it was too late to control what she felt, in the moment I hadn't enjoyed it how I should had of her love, but life would give me the chance to have her more time at my side, and for the eternity.

How happy it made me think about that over and over again, I spent the next minutes remembering every second that had passed since Bella had come into my life, since the first time that I had seen her face from someone's mind in school, I couldn't even distinguish who was who if I didn't know or wasn't familiarized with that voice, and that day every one and all voices and eyes in the school were laid on her. Man and woman, all, except my family. Who would say that I would be the most aware of her. Of her and her blood. I shuddered remembering with how much hatred I had seen her, how she had shuddered when she saw my black eyes put on her, the fear and terror that I saw in her eyes, it was the only time that I would see that fear in her beautiful chocolate brown eyes.

I got lost in the depths of them for a long while, imagining all the way to her soul. Everytime that I saw in their depth, so odd in dark eyes, but hers, somehow managing to be that beautiful, to allow me to see what her mind didn't allow me. And open book, like she once had told me. I might couldn't read her thoughts, not even a little glimmer into them, but her eyes and her face always told me what she felt.

I went running to the south zone of the island, Bella must still being sleeping, it wasn't even dawn yet. Though the sun was about to rise, I neared the shore of the beach, the sun would be rising in just a few minutes, I could already see some of the rays illuminating lightly the edge of the sea. It was a wonderful view, but I was missing Bella at my side to be able to really appreciate the beauty of what I saw seeing. Without her nothing had sense.

I had stayed stood in the same place while the sun made its appearance, my thoughts focused in the only owner of them, Bella. I kept remembering every day that I had passed at her side, every second that I had heard her heartbeats, her breathing, every time I smelled her floral and sweet scent, everytime that we were together, when the time disappeared around us, as if we were together and alone in our own bubble.

I felt happening the same thing in the last hours, I was so into my thoughts of every moment at her side, as if in that same moment she was with me, that the hours passing around me had stooped for me.

I turned to see in the direction where the house was, and my Bella waiting for my return, with that thought, I went sprinting at top speed in her direction, I felt that my body and emotions knew where I was headed and they were pulling me with more intensity towards her, like I always felt when I was going to her side. I ran thought the jungle in a matter of minutes, nothing interrupted my path, all the animals stepped away when my footsteps touched the ground near where they lived. And in less than ten minutes of running through the jungle, I arrived to the sand path which led up to the front door of the house.

I listened to the television on, was Bella awake? It didn't seem likely, I heard her heartbeats and her breathing that told me the contrary. They were too even for her to be awake and watching television.

I opened the door, and walked through the hall. When I arrived to the television room, I saw Bella laid down in the sofa, and something I hadn't thought before came to my mind, seeing my angel all wet with sweat because of the hotness in the island, without the coldness of my skin, Bella had suffered from the hotness, I hadn't thought about installing an air conditioner for the moments when I wasn't present. You didn't think about everything, idiot, I scolded myself.

I put my arms around her, immediately trying to calm the heat that invaded her body with the coldness from mine. I pulled her towards my body, so my cold could ease her hot. Bella woke up and there was something in her face that I didn't like, like she was sick. But while I did it something crossed her look, pain...

"I'm sorry." I told her murmuring while I took one of my hands to her forehead looking for a sign that indicated me if she was sick, I could take her right away to Rio. It was getting me worried. Or was it just the heat? "So much for thoroughness. I didn't think about how hot you would be with me gone. I'll have an air conditioner installed before I leave again." I told her, thinking in the weeks that Bella still wanted to stay. She would need it.

"Excuse me!" She suddenly told me, gasping while I felt she was struggling to get free of my arms. What? What had I done?

I released my hold, anyway. "Bella?" I asked her, confused by her behavior.

She didn't say anything, but sprinted like a lightening towards the bathroom. I followed her, her hand was in her mouth, like fighting back vomiting in her path. When she got the bath, she vomited in such an almost violent way, she was very sick, more than I had thought.

While my angel was crouched over the toilet, she ignored for a few minutes, she couldn't even raise her head to see me.

"Bella? What's wrong?"

I waited while Bella got recovered a little to answer me, then my thoughts went to my medicine studies, I compared the symptoms with millions of sicknesses that I had read about. Which worried me the most were the similarities with something, and it wasn't exactly a sickness. Her changes in her sleeping habits, the headrushes, all the food she ate, her desires, not this, the nauseas... no, it couldn't be possible, she couldn't be...

Bella interrupted my thoughts.

"Damn rancid chicken." She complained. Chicken? What chicken?

"Are you all right?" I was worried, I wished that her symptoms were from some sickness that I had never heard about.

"Fine." She told me panting. She wasn't still completely recovered. "It's just food poisoning. You don't need to see this. Go away."

"Not likely, Bella." As if I could go away and left her in that state. It would never be that way.

"Go away." She told me again, her voice was a moan. She started to make an effort to get up. I hurried to help her, she looked so weak, I ignored when she pushed me to shove me away, her efforts were pointless now more than ever.

Bella washed her mouth, until she made sure it was clean. When she was done, I took her in my arms and walked towards the bed, where I laid her gently, I didn't stop supporting her against my arms, I still felt her weak. She wasn't recovered completely.

"Food poisoning?" I told her, not so sure of her answer. I couldn't get from my mind that it could be... but it was not possible. No, it wasn't. I tried to forget, but it was something impossible also.

"Yeah." Her voice sound like creaking. "I made some chicken last night. It tasted off, so I threw it out. But I ate a few bites first."

I put my hands over her forehead. Checking her temperature. She didn't look so good. "How do you feel now?"

I asked Bella. Was she okay? She thought about it a moment, like she herself was checking how she felt. What else had she felt through the night?

"Pretty normal. A little hungry, actually."

What? Always trying to take the seriousness from a situation. I didn't tell her anything, but I made her wait for at least and hour. I kept a glass of water in her hand, all what she had vomited and the heat from the night should had left her dehydrated. She didn't complain. At least. In her eyes I saw tiredness, because she had awaken through the night surely. Television was still on, and I put it on CNN. I was sat and Bella had left herself fell into my lap.

We spent a few minutes watching the news, they didn't have anything that made me want to take my eyes off of her. I then felt Bella turned towards me, but in that moment, another hit of pain ran into her eyes just like in the morning. She raised again from my lap, running again, but this time not towards the place where I expected, but the kitchen. I stood at her side again, and helped her, I held her hair so it didn't fall over. Now I really was getting worried.

"Maybe we should go back to Rio, see a doctor." I told while Bella was rinsing again her mouth. Bella shook her head. Always so stubborn.

It was the best. We had to see what she had, make sure that she was well of health or that it wasn't anything serious, that it wasn't what I was fearing...

We walked through the hall again. "I'll be fine right after I brush my teeth."

After a few minutes, Bella got into the bathroom again. I saw her looking for something in the bags, I didn't have any idea of what it was what she was looking for, and I didn't ask, when she found what she wanted, a first-aid kid. She was sicked than what she let me see. I would have to find a way to go back to Rio and look for a doctor to see Bella. I wasn't going to allow that it got something more serious.

It terrified me the idea. Bella stopped in half search, I saw her taking something out and holding it between her fingers a blue box, she stayed absolutely still for a few minutes. It seemed that everything around her had erased, that she was out of this world, thinking about something.

Suddenly Bella moved, startled, I heard a little knock when that happened. But there was nothing that could have caused it. Bella dropped the box back to the first-aid kit.

"Are you well?" I asked her, from the door where I had been watching what she was doing. "Did you get sick again?"

Maybe I didn't see it, but something had startled her.

"Yes and no." Bella answered me, it worried me the way her voice sounded, like she had something stuck in her throat and didn't let her speak.

Everything was getting weirder everytime, I was starting to get seriously worried.

"Bella? Can I please come in?"

"O… kay?" She told me as of doubting of her answer or of what to say. Her never eyes laid on my face, they were seeing nothing, she sitting on the floor cross-legged, in front of the bad. I sat in front of her, she looked worse than before, I put my hand over her forehead again...

"What's wrong?"

"How many days has it been since the wedding?" What?

"Seventeen." I answered her without missing a beat. I even knew the exact seconds. But, what did it have to do with what was happening to her? Nothing, I told myself, please, let it be nothing. "Bella, what is it?"

She didn't answer me, and frustration was eating me inside out. Bella knew it, and how much I hated that she stayed quiet, that she didn't tell me what was happening. She raised a finger in my direction, asking me to wait. She stayed quiet, in her eyes I saw that she was very concentrated in something.

What was she thinking?

I didn't want to thing that my suspicions were right... it was impossible. I repeated that myself over and over again. There's no way for that to happen, the words were spinning out of my control in my head.

Bella wasn't still speaking, I felt I was going to explode.

"Bella!" I told her urgently, I didn't stand it anymore. Her silence, the doubt was attacking me. "I'm losing my mind over here."

I heard how she tried to swallow so she could speak. But without telling me anything yet, she leaned over the bag again, and started to look for something in it. She revolved all the boxes that were inside until she found what she was looking at the moment. She took another blue box out again and put in front of me. According to what it said, it a box with tampons.

I didn't understand why she was showing me that. "What? Are you trying to pass this illness off as PMS?"

"No." She answered me, and that confused me even more. That what was it? "No, Edward. I'm trying to tell you that my period is five days late."

No, it's not possible. There was no way, no, no... I thought. Her words had left me frozen, in her eyes I saw how my face had become as stone.

My period is five days late... I heard again her words in my mind.

How was possible that had happened?

There was no way that Bella could be pregnant, she had only had sex with me, and I and everyone from my kind were equally incapable of doing such a thing. Bella couldn't, no. but some way, something told me that she was...

"I don't think I have food poisoning."

I heard Bella tell farther, as if it was a murmur. I didn't answer at her words, I was still being the same statue than a few moments ago. The symptoms that Bella had had in the last days came to my mind, comparing them with the list of symptoms of a pregnant woman. It seemed that Bella repeated them to me aloud, she started listing them, as if she herself understood what was happening.

"The dreams," Her voice was barely a whisper, but I heard them perfectly. "Sleeping so much. The

crying. All that food. Oh. Oh. Oh."

The crying? I had forgotten about that symptom.

My eyes were still on her face, watching her carefully, she didn't even realize that that was what I was doing. But I had been watching how her body had swollen slowly, faster than normal, her face instead was losing a little weight, in spite of all the food that she had eaten in the last few weeks. Without expecting that to happen, her hand went suddenly towards her stomach. As if suddenly she was sure that that was what was happening.

"Oh!" She just said.

Without moving from the same position in which I was frozen, Bella started moving, trying to get up, I saw how her feet trembled as if she was about to fall down. She stayed the same way, I then heard how a fabric was being raising, the air that flew with the movement came to my ears. I barely turned my eyes a little, without moving nothing else, she had raised the fabric from her camisole letting the skin of her stomach naked.

"Impossible." Bella whispered.

Bella stayed pensive for another long moment. While my mind said again and again that nothing of that was happening. I couldn't react, I couldn't think clearly, I couldn't understand how that could've happened, if in fact had happened.

Bella pregnant.

As much as I had wished many times that that was possible, I couldn't accept it, I couldn't accept that I now had caused that to my angel, had put in her body something so dreadful like a monster that would grow inside of her, that would end up killing her, there no other way. I was a monster, and that thing couldn't be anything else. We had to something immediately. Alice should had seen this, why didn't she warn me? Why didn't Carlisle tell me anything? Maybe they didn't know. This had never happened before, physical relationships between a vampire and human woman, were just myths, legends. Though they had happened, mothers always ended up death. Death.

I heard Bella starting to move, I felt the air that caused her movements touching my face, it seemed like she was checking her body. I couldn't move to make sure what was she was thinking about. I then heard her skin brushing her own skin. Her fingers over...?

"Impossible." But now her voice sounded more surprised, than doubtful.

After that I didn't hear Bella uttering another word again. I was still motionless on the floor. I was still unable to move, unable to react.

What was I going to do if what was happening was real?

Bella was in complete danger. As much as I wished that my angel were able to be a mother, this wasn't the best way, everything that involved my world, was dangerous. I had to find a safe way to make sure that that nightmare was in fact true, before something wrong happened to my Bella. I couldn't allow it.

But every second that passed, I was more sure that Bella was pregnant. The symptoms were the same ones, but there was something wrong in this situation, something very wrong. It had been sixteen days since we had been together sexually. One day since the last to times, and if Bella had five days late, it had been caused for the first time. That meant that I couldn't have done anything to stop this to happen. Was it that disasters were never going to stop falling over us? Over my Bella?

This was all my fault, there was no one else to blame as always. All my fault, the happiness that I had felt this night were disappearing in front of my eyes, thinking about what was coming to us now. Thinking about all the damage that I never stopped inflicting on my angel, the only person that I had loved this way, more than my own life, whom I could never be separated from, and I did that to her.

I suddenly remembered, the memories that had crossed through the mind of Kaure, the cleaning woman. They had passed so fast through her mind, comparing me with the monster from which they had been told to be careful. What was happening to us they had already seen it, or better said, they had already heard about it. But they had never found proof that in fact had happened, so I didn't know if they could help me.

Everything I could think about was in Bella, if that thing was a monster, the only thing it could want was to finish with the life of my angel. I would never allow that. Never.

Why had happened that?

My brothers hadn't been able to let any of my sisters pregnant, or my father let my mother pregnant. Then I thought, that my sisters and Esme were just like us, they couldn't change, they couldn't change to permit a baby to grow inside of them, maybe we did have the capacity to be fathers, we didn't need that our body grew to permit it, like woman. The women of my family would never be able to carry a baby, but Bella... she could, she was still human, her body was still capable of developing to give enough space to carry a child, allow to grow inside of her, and to live on to get stronger until being able to survive on his own outside her body.

That revelation only caused more revulsion towards myself, if what I thought was true, then it was more sure that Bella were carrying in those moments inside her body a monster, just as her father. A monster thirsted of death. That would give to my Bella, and I couldn't allow it. As if answering to my thoughts, Bella shook her head. Would she refuse? I wasn't entirely sure of what would she think about it, about what she was thinking in those moments.

Bella stayed without saying a word, nothing had changed in the moment, both of us were still frozen, she in front of the mirror, and I sitting on the floor in front of the same bag that moments ago had been in front of Bella too.

Why hadn't Alice called? Was it that she hadn't seen anything? That couldn't be.

They worry was filling me every second that was passing, it didn't let me move, it had me paralyzed. My mind didn't want to work, it didn't let me reason the situation, I just thought in what to do to protect my Bella, it was the only thought that I had. It was the only thing that mattered. Nothing else.

I came back to the moment in which I remembered the time that had passed since our wedding night until this day. Seventeen. Bella already had a well defined bulge in her stomach. What did that mean? As far as I had read, this didn't happen so fast. Women waited for at least two or three months before starting to feel some pregnant symptom. And with her had just passed three days.

I couldn't keep thinking about this, I didn't want to imagine what would happen at the end of the time... how much time would it pass?

We had to hurry and make something about it. To save my Bella of all of this, of not allowing that she got hurt, that was my priority. Nothing else mattered, my angel couldn't refuse to that. Although I didn't know what she was thinking, I was sure that she must be terrified, too much as to be able to speak, to say something, to ask me what was happening, what would we do, I don't, anything. I had to listen something from her lips, from her thoughts. What do you think? I screamed at her inside of me, without being able to say it out loud.

My mind went blank suddenly. I felt the same as the day when I received that phone call from Rosalie, when she was telling me that Bella was dead. This was worse.

….........

I heard again how Bella was brushing her skin over her own skin. She was surely checking that everything was true or just a simple nightmare from which we were going to wake up any moment. Even myself wished that this were a nightmares, and that I too were able to wake up from it, the only thing that told me this was really happening, it was that I couldn't dream. Everything was true. And that put a lump in my throat.

What was I going to do?

In those moments I didn't have an answer, and that was killing me. Not knowing what to do. It wasn't like planning to fight against a newborn army, or against a damn vampire trying to finish with the life of my angel, it wasn't like gathering all the necessary strength to walk away from the side and save her from a terrible destiny, or to push away someone to stop him from sinking his teeth into her skin, I wasn't facing anything alike an enemy. Yes, it was definitely a monster growing inside of her, but not an enemy. It didn't matter, we had to get it out of her before it could hurt her. Bella wouldn't stop us from doing it, she wouldn't, because I wouldn't allow it. It was out of question considering to leave it inside of her and to risk that something went wrong. As it was sure to go, being a monster as its biological father, there was no other way that that thing could follow, just destruction. I was completely sure of that truth.

In my mind started to gather ways of how to make sure to get that thing out of her body, it would be dangerous, but not more than to let it grown inside of her.

Bella was still quiet and that was freaking me out more. In that instant I heard that little bump, just as the one that I had heard when Bella was sitting in front of her bad looking for something while I was looking at her from the door. The bump that I heard was like to listen my body crashing into some one of my brothers, though it was softer barely audible.

That thing was inside of Bella's body. It was bare growing but it already hit her that way, if I could hear it that loud, what would happen when it grew in such a way to be able to break her bones?

The ring of my cellphone interrupted my thoughts. Alice, for sure. About time, I thought. But I wasn't able to move, nor Bella. Both of us stayed frozen. My mind was still spinning around what I had thought when hearing that thing hitting my Bella. Everything was going to get worse, I was sure. The cellphone rang again, I was still not answering. They would never get tired, but I couldn't move.

Eating changes, in her way of sleeping, the headrushes, the crying, the bulge that now was growing in her stomach... there was no doubt that she was pregnant.

I couldn't answer, what would I tell them if I picked up? What would they tell me?

The cellphone kept ringing several occasions, and I couldn't move.

I heard Bella staring to cry, I heard the tears sliding over her face. She was scared, I didn't know what to do or what to think, neither did she, and I wasn't any supportive in that moment, she needed someone to tell her what was happening, to support her. But I couldn't react.

I couldn't get out of the black hole I had fallen in, I felt trapped between fright and horror, the guilt for causing that to Bella. After all my efforts to take care of her, to free her from everything bad, I had put her into this.

I didn't know how long had passed, the cellphone rang again and I thought that Bella got tired of hearing it ring and ring and me not picking it up. I saw her from my peripheral sight, how she crouched down, I could see how she did it carefully, as if she was afraid of moving wrong, I felt her hands looking in my pockets for the annoying ringing of the timbre, when she found it she took it out of the pocket, and I saw how her hand stopped in front of me, as if waiting for me to take it and answer, but I wasn't able to even blink.

Bella put the cellphone in front of her face, looking who was the person that was calling. I already knew and the reason why she was calling.

"Hi, Alice." Her voice sounded exactly like she had been crying, she cleared her throat, and I listened at the other side of the line how Alice was answering.

"Bella? Bella, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Um. Is Carlisle there?" Yes, Carlisle, he would know what to do.

"He is. What's the problem?"

"I'm not… one hundred percent… sure. . . ."

"Is Edward all right?" How would I be? I heard her screaming for Carlisle at the other side of the line.

"Why didn't he pick up the phone?" She asked Bella why I wasn't the one who picked up the phone.

"I'm not sure."

"Bella, what's going on? I just saw—" What did you? Why didn't she finish?

"What did you see?"

But Alice didn't answer. There was a silence and I heard slightly the voices of my sister and Carlisle, they were worried, Alice hadn't seen anything, that was why they hadn't called until now. I then heard Alice again on the other side of the line.

"Here's Carlisle."

While my father picked up the phone, I felt how Bella got frozen for a moment, thinking about something I wasn't able to hear. Then I felt a warmth running through her body, but it wasn't the normal one, not like when her skin blushed. It was different.

"Bella, it's Carlisle. What's going on?""I—" Bella stayed in silence for a few second. She surely didn't know how to put into words what was happening. I couldn't even do it, I didn't have any idea how to say it. "I'm a little worried about Edward.… Can vampires go into shock?"

She was worrying about me? How was it possible? I didn't know why, but it didn't surprise me in the moment.

"Has he been harmed?" Carlisle got worried at hearing Bella's words.

"No, no, just… taken by surprise."

This wasn't a surprise, it wasn't like a damn gift that made me happy. It was unexpected, just that.

"I don't understand, Bella."

So Alice had really seen nothing. They didn't have idea of what had happened. How was it possible?

"I think… well, I think that… maybe… I might be . . ." Bella took a big breath, gathering strength to say the next thing. "Pregnant."

No, God. Let all of this to not be true.

But I heard another bump in her body, as if to answering both of us. Bella's free hand flew to her stomach. A silence followed the call, and Carlisle started to make the routine questions in this case to my Bella.

"When was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?"

"Sixteen days before the wedding."

"How do you feel?"

"Weird." Her voice broke while she was answering him, and I heard how more tears were falling down her face. More pain, more terror. "This is going to sound crazy—look, I know it's way too early for any

of this. Maybe I am crazy. But I'm having bizarre dreams and eating all the time and crying and throwing up and… and… I swear something moved inside me just now."

When I listened to her last words, my head moved almost imperceptibly towards her direction, I raised my hand to take the cellphone. Bella sighed, as if relieved that finally I had reacted. I had to speak with Carlisle, to hear it myself.

"Um, I think Edward wants to talk to you."

"Put him on." His voice sounded tense for the worry. That didn't help me.

Bella looked at me doubtfully, but put the cellphone on my hand. I took it my ear.

"Is it possible?" Say no, I internally begged.

"I'm not sure, Edward. Son, the best would be to come back to Forks, we have to make some tests and to be sure that Bella is really pregnant. But it is very sure that she is."

"And Bella?" While I asked about her, my arm moved to her side, and interwined it around her.

"Like I told you, you have to come back and so I can make her some tests, I'm not sure how will it be for her, but it doesn't seem to be something out of normal, just the speed with which the symptoms appeared, her period late and that she already feels a bulge in her abdomen. You have to come back, Edward. I think she's right."

"Yes. Yes, I will." Was all I said to him.

"Good, then see you soon." He told me and retired the cellphone from my hear, hanging up.

I immediately dialed to the international airport to reserve the tickets for the first flight departing to United States.

"What did Carlisle say?"

I felt like I was going to tumble down at any moment, but I tried to be strong for her. "He thinks you're pregnant."

I heard that damn bump again...

I took again the cellphone to my ear. "Who are you calling now?"

"The airport. We're going home." I answered her.

After that, I heard a voice that answered me in Portuguese, and started speaking with it. I asked her the necessary to depart in that same moment, or as soon as possible from Rio de Janeiro. The flights were saturated, or the prices at too high costs, that wasn't a problem, but when she told me the cost after insisting that I didn't care about how much it cost, she repeated again that the flights were saturated. That frustrated me, it seemed like she was playing with me. I wanted a straight flight to United States, with no arriving to other place, we had to be there as soon as possible. Minutes passed and they didn't give me an answer. They told me the same again and again, that the only available flights had too many stops in other cities before arriving to United Stated, I didn't accept that. The flights that I wanted were departing into too many hours later as to wait, they gave me options and more useless options, everytime that I heard their frustrating answers, mine came out between my teeth, I felt that if I didn't control myself, the cellphone would get smashed into dust in my hand. While I waited for an answer that convinced me, I walked through every corner of the bedroom, the bathroom, gathering all our clothes and preparing the bags, Bella just watched me while I prepared everything to leave immediately, the most immediate possible. I took an outfit so Bella got dressed, she was still wearing her camisole. When Bella was changed, I put the clothes she had taken off inside her bag.

When I was finished, I kept moving from side to side, without being able to help it. I kept speaking with the woman at the other side of the line trying to arrange our flight. I almost considered renting a private plane. Almost. When finally the woman told me that it seemed to be something available. When she told it wasn't, everything went blank, rage invading me more than before, I hear how Bella raised from the bed, and her footsteps coming out from the bedroom. I kept speaking in the cellphone, forcing the woman to find something available the quickest possible.

I then heard Bella opening a bag, food, and started eating. And heard again that sound that I was starting to hate, the bump that was coming from inside her body.

"I know." Bella answered to someone I didn't hear or something. "I don't want to go, either." Was she talking with that thing?

Bella stayed in silence for another moment. While I kept arguing on the phone.

"I don't understand." I heard her saying in a little whisper. "What is wrong here?"

Nothing, I said. The only wrong here was me.

I kept arguing on the phone. Good news seemed to finally come, I had almost and hour trying to get a flight to United Stated the most immediately.

Bella stayed silence, surely thinking about what we were going to do and how we were going to. She should be so worried and terrified as I was, I couldn't help it. We had to fix this problem, as it always have to be. It suddenly came to my mind, that damn mutt. And my errors ran through my mind in my own eyes, the first one was not to allow Bella to choose him. She would much better off at his side, she wouldn't be going through this in this moment. She wouldn't be frightened for the monster that she was carrying inside of her. He would have never hurt her if he would have been with her. Bella loved him, and he loved her, he had fought until the last minute and the last resource. I hated myself more in that moment, for had returned to the side of my Bella instead of had gone away again, had let her remade her life at the side of that dog. His plan was very good, I had seen it in his head, I was almost sure that he would had made it, it was a good plan. And Bella was already in love with him, she would had fallen sooner or later, Charlie wouldn't have refused, he would had supported him and helped him to conquer Bella's heart. The dog would have received the support that Charlie never showed to me, the favorite of Bella's father, not me. Everyday that he saw me he wished that his daughter was with Jacob Black, that it was him who knocked on the door to see his daughter. That it was him she made plans with to go together to college. In that moment I wished the same.

And I loathed myself even more for not being good enough for her as he was. For not being able to give her what she wanted without her letting her humanity behind, her soul, just for being able to live at my side for the rest of her existence.

I almost saw the old hag destiny laughing and mocking of my pain. Screaming at my face and at itself, that she hadn't had enough, that my pain didn't cover yet my debt with the humanity, with all that I had caused being the monster that I was. That she wouldn't stop until I didn't have anything for which I still would want to keep living in this world. That she would snatch my angel from my side. That I didn't deserve her.

How well I knew that truth. How well I knew how bad I was for her, that I was like a curse that didn't let her be happy, that didn't let her be normal, that it was killing her every day, some way or another, that it wouldn't break until letting her totally destroyed. Why wouldn't I be able to like some kind of magical spell taken out from some fairy tale, to make her happy, and nothing else. No, I knew that I belong to the nightmares world, to the horror stories, I was a monster not a charming prince.

I had repeated it to her so many times, that I thought it would get engraved in her mind and she would understand that that was the only truth. But no, she had come to this point, now less than ever I deserved her. The truth in my own words left me breathless. Just a voice at the other side of the line, finally, confirming two seats in the next flight to United States, brought me back to the present.

As soon as I hang out the phone, I heard Bella starting to cry, the tears falling down her face again. I hurried to get out of the room, I stayed stood in the other corner of the kitchen.

"Bella?"

Bella was looking outside the window, slowly she turned to see me head on, her movements were almost wary, as if she was scared to turn around. It was normal.

Then I saw her distressed face, the tears had dampened both her cheeks.

"Bella!" I told her while I crossed at inhuman speed the room, to get to her side, I put my hands in her face. "Are you in pain?"

That should be it.

"No, no—"

She wasn't going to fool in the moment. I pulled her against my chest. She would be trying to importance from the fact, to not worry me, as ever. Or she was just simply terrified, I hadn't talked with her since I had hung the phone up with Carlisle, I hadn't considered what she was feeling. "Don't be afraid. We'll be home in sixteen hours. You'll be fine. Carlisle will be ready when we get there. We'll take care of this, and you'll be fine, you'll be fine."

"Take care of this? What do you mean?"

I pulled her face away from my chest, so I could see her eyes. "We're going to get that thing out before it can hurt any part of you. Don't be scared. I won't let it hurt you."

"That thing?" She told me gasping.

I didn't have time to process her tone. I heard the thoughts of Gustavo and Kaure in the door, they were about to knock. I had completely forgotten about them.

"Dammit! I forgot Gustavo was due today. I'll get rid of him and be right back."

I came out of the room rapidly towards the door. They had already knocked once, and Kaure was getting nervous. I was so nervous and frustrated that I couldn't neither maintain a serene mask nor being too nice as the last day.

"Good afternoon, Gustavo. Kaure."

Both of them answered in Portuguese. The woman was frightened when she saw my face and heard the tone of my voice. She had thought the worst, and wasn't very far, that way would be very soon.

I explained them as quickest possible as I could that Bella and I were about to depart from the island, we would soon take a flight back to United States, Gustavo believed my words, and wished us a good journey, but Kaure wasn't convinced. She thought that I had already killed Bella and that was why I was leaving the island. Thinking that surely that was what I was doing in the island, it had been years since no one came to spend a few days here.

Gustavo offered to leave the food inside, but I refused, asking him to keep it for them, that neither my wife nor I or someone else would come back soon at the place and wouldn't be necessary for them to leave the food. Again, he accepted my words, but Kaure started arguing with him when he told her to leave, I stayed in the door, waiting for them to leave. But the thoughts of the woman weren't going to change of mind.

I insisted after a few minutes that we were late so they left once and for all, but the woman simply didn't give up. She kept arguing that she just wanted to give us what she had brought with her, food, which she really wanted, was to make sure that I wasn't lying, and that my wife was still alive. Gustavo and I tried to convince her, but I knew that it was impossible, the words we told her, get in for one of her ears and got out for the other one, she didn't register anything that we told her, she just wanted to make sure that Bella was still living, and that my words we true.

Giving in, and with bad mood, more than anything for exasperation because of her insistence in the moment, I indicated her with the hand to come in, I kept arguing while walking towards the kitchen where Bella was waiting for me, I walked in though the door in front of the woman, and advanced directly up to where Bella was, tears still dampened her cheeks, I wiped them away with my fingers. I leaned over her ear to whisper to her.

"She's insisting on leaving the food she brought—she made us dinner. It's an excuse—she wants to make sure I haven't killed you yet." Yet, the words resounded in my mind.

It was then when the woman neared the corner turning around to get into the kitchen. The plate with the supposedly food in her hands. She got surprised a little when she saw that my words had been true, that Bella was in the kitchen waiting for me to leave to Rio and take our flight to United States. She then saw the expression on her face. Her eyes fixed on both of us. She watched carefully the changes in her expression, the color that now was in her face, the glow that now was shining in her eyes, the wetness that had stayed from her tears, I didn't neither know nor understand how the logic of a woman worked, but in her imperceptible changes for me were obvious for her. The first thing that crossed her mind, was that my Bella was pregnant. She put the plate on the counter.

And when I heard her thoughts put into words in that moment, they caused me an indescribable rage, she was thinking that the best would be to kill her. To kill my Bella. I answered her brusquely, I had never been so rude to a woman, maybe just Rosalie. I ordered her to stay away that she had already seen what she wanted. She then turned around to leave, but the movement caused that the smell from the food got to where we were. I heard how Bella spun immediately towards the sink. And she started to throw up again. I put my hands on her forehead, I heard Kaure telling me to put the food into the refrigerator to put away the smell, I thanked her, and rapidly opened it and put the food into it, I closed it and my hands came back to her forehead.

Bella rinse her moth in the same place, while I kept caressing and trying to calm her with my hands on both sides of her face.

I heard that sound hitting her stomach again, and her hands flew towards it, where stayed in the same place. I turned her around to me, and hugged her, wrapping my arms around her, Bella didn't wrap her around me, but kept her hands over her stomach, her face laid over my chest.

When she realized the position in which Bella was, with her hands over her stomach, after had vomited, her suspicions got proved true, now she was sure that Bella was pregnant. I heard how she gasped when she realized it.

I turned to see her and Bella did the same. Kaure was still in the door, doubting whether to leave or to stay, her hands were stretched to the front, her thoughts were full with doubt, she didn't know what to do, if to help us or what to do. Her eyes were glued to the hands of Bella, that were still over her stomach. Her mouth completely open. And I heard what she thought.

I couldn't help but gasping for what she was thinking. She was remembering her legends, vividly thinking that my Bella wouldn't survive to that, that she would die but not before the monster growing inside of her were born to dedicate at killing. I put Bella behind me, as if preventing her to see Bella , my arms were still in her torso, surrounding her.

Kaure got courage from somewhere to be able to speak, though she was terrified for what could happen if she me made upset, even so, she started screaming at me, in a desperate way, trying to convince me that she knew very well what was inside of Bella, that it was a monster that should be killed before it could kill my Bella, innocent people. All her words came out of her in the language from her Indian tribe. She didn't have much knowledge about Portuguese to tell me what she had to tell me. Her hands flew several times in the air, sometimes in tiny fists, she took two steps towards us, insisting that Bella was a danger while that monster were inside of her.

I took a step towards her, and Bella, believing that I was too upset by her attack of words, clung to my arm preventing me from taking another step. I asked her in a barely audible voice to the woman that allowed me to speak. I explained her that our trip back to United States was for the same reason that she would ask me to go to her tribe and try save my Bella. I told her that my father was a doctor, and that we would get rid of the thing that was growing inside of her. My voice was begging her to understand me, to understand the pain that filled me that day, in that moment, that I loved the woman that was clinging to my arm and that I would never allow anything to happen to her.

Kaure stayed quiet for a moment, she didn't imagine that I could speak the language from her tribe, and that stopped her a moment. In the meantime, she was formulating a very difficult question to answer. In the last moment, she only told me that if it was what her legends told that was growing inside of the stomach of Bella, I should be the guilty, that I please would be honest with her, and she would see in what she could possibly help. It relieved me a little to hear her words, but made me sad knowing that the only solution until that moment was death, one's or another's. When she asked me if everything what she had told me was what was really happening, I nodded once with my head. The woman, a little scared, took a step towards myself, she was upset for what she was seeing in front of her eyes.

I stretched my hand in her direction, explaining slowly that Bella was my wife, I then made a gesture with my hand towards Bella, I put my hand over her cheek, caressing it. That I loved her and would take her of her, that she couldn't die. My words bothered her, and accusing me with the hands, she answered me that that was impossible, that if I had loved her I wouldn't had done anything of that that caused this. Her hands were pointing me telling me that I was the guilty. How well I knew that, she didn't have to say it. When she finished talking, I begged her to help me, to tell if there was some possibility of saving Bella. Anything.

Her face changed, when she heard my tone, the sadness and desperation in it. Her thoughts believed me, but kept doubting that Bella would survive. I tried again to make her to tell more about her legends, maybe I would see something in her mind that helped me. Her eyes went from my face to Bella's. The face of my angel was confused, because she didn't understand a word of what we were saying. After a few moments of begging Kaure for her help, I gave up, I stopped talking, giving her a chance to think about it. Her eyes were still looking at our faces, from mine to hers. She was thinking what to say, what was the best to do. They weren't good news. She then took a step towards us.

When she stopped again, her hands flew into the air, shaping a balloon in the middle of nothing in front of Bella's stomach, she was telling me with signs, but she did it more for Bella, so she understood what she meant. I felt Bella startling a little. She didn't imagine that Kaure knew that she was pregnant, or that she had something to say about the thing growing inside of her.

She walked a few more steps towards us again, she stopped again, but now she was almost face-to-face with my Bella. She asked me a few things to make sure even more that Bella was pregnant, I answered her the less tense I could, I already knew that Bella was pregnant. She didn't like my answers at all, not there was no doubt. I then asked her two simple questions, if there was something to do about it and if there was, to tell me what was it. She denied with her head, in her mind just told me that the only solution was the death. The pain that I felt knowing there was nothing else to do to save my angel, left me with an indescribable pain inside of me, Bella turned to see me when she heard the tone of my voice.

She didn't say anything, she just walked the few steps between her and my Bella, when she was at her side, she carefully put her hand over her stomach. She decided to use the word in Portuguese, in her language was so different that Bella wouldn't had understood it. But in Portuguese she surely would.

"Morte." Her word left me frozen. There was no hope. It was death for her or for the monster inside of her.

Kaure stepped back, walked towards the door, her shoulders hunched, she hadn't liked at all to find out what was happening between us. It caused her remorse the death of a human being, would be Bella, she had asked us to get rid of that thing.

Bella said nothing, but I knew that she was now more scared than before. She stayed quiet at my side, while I couldn't move, I didn't recover from the mental tiredness I was in the moment. It had left devastated, destroyed into pieces every one of her answers. There was no other way than to finish off that thing growing inside of her. I had had the hope that the woman would be able to give me some tiny piece of hope that my angel would be fine, but it had been all the opposite.

I didn't move, until I felt Bella stepping away from me. Had she gotten tired of me? Did she finally want to be away from me? My hand went to her shoulder, stopping her.

"Where are you going?" The pain that was filling me was evident in my voice.

"To brush my teeth again."

I wasn't sure if that was really what she wanted.

"Don't worry about what she said. It's nothing but legends, old lies for the sake of entertainment."

I lied, but I didn't feel enough brave as to tell her the truth, not yet.

"I didn't understand anything."

Bella answered me, but as always, and as the awful liar she was, I knew she wasn't telling me the truth. It was obvious in her eyes and in the tone of her voice. She surely was thinking in all the legends which we lived surrounding her, all true. Why wouldn't she believe what she had just heard?

"I packed your toothbrush. I'll get it for you."

I walked towards the bedroom where the bags still were. Bella walked behind me.

"Are we leaving soon?" She asked me while we got to the bedroom.

"As soon as you're done." I told her giving her the toothbrush. Bella got into the bathroom, I heard until she finished, she went out of it, walked to where I was waiting for her to come out so I could pack the toothbrush again and leave. When she gave it to me, I packed it immediately.

"I'll get the bags into the boat."

"Edward—" She told me before I took the bags.

I turned around to see her when she spoke. "Yes?"

Bella stayed quiet for a moment, as if thinking in what to say. Through her eyes crossed doubt. But it disappeared and she got encouraged to tell me what she wanted.

"Could you… pack some of the food? You know, in case I get hungry again."

Oh, it was that.

"Of course." Her eyes and her soft voice, melted my heart. Of course she was scared. And I hadn't been a good husband. "Don't worry about anything. We'll get to Carlisle in just a few hours, really. This will all be over soon."

Bella just nodded with the head. I turned around to where the bags were, I took them all with both hands, and came out of the room as quickly as possible. I made a quick stop in the kitchen and took all the packets of cookies that were in the cupboard, and then a few bottles of water. I walked towards the door, I didn't feel well, I felt like in any moment all this angst, sadness, frustration, pain, rage, desperation, everything, was going to be too much and I wouldn't bear it. No, I told myself, you've got to be strong for Bella. With those words I kept walking towards the boat, I hurried suddenly, worried about how Bella was. I had to take care of her now more than ever.

I put the bags in the same where I had when we were coming to the island. I put the food that Bella had asked me to hand, and then I stayed looking at the beach, I couldn't believe what was happening, but it was all true. I calmed down, and turned around to get down of the boat and walked back to Bella.

I felt that in any moment I was going to fall down in pieces to the sand that was under my feet, the pain of the truth I saw myself forced to face was finishing with me quicker than I would had never been able to imagined. The things still didn't advance in a way that Bella already saw herself in danger, in pain, and I already felt like burning in the flames of hell, where I would go as soon as her heart stopped beating. I walked slowly, the pain that I was feeling was finishing me, but I took those short minutes that were to get back to the house, to be able to hide my pain in a serenity mask, Bella would notice it without a doubt, and I had to be strong for her in these hours that were still left to get to Forks, where Carlisle and I would find a way to get that thing out of her body before it could seriously hurt her.

We had to do something, there was nothing else that could be made, the superstitions from the Indian tribe of Kaure had told me, when I still had the tiny hope of finding something in their legends that could help me, that told me that there was something that could be done that it wasn't dying or to kill her, no... it didn't work at all to think about what could've been, there was nothing, there was no hope, that monster had to die if I wanted Bella to keep living, and my Bella had to keep living, not just for me, but for her, I didn't see the world without her in it, she couldn't die, I wouldn't allow it.

The pain was growing more and more in my interior, I didn't understand how it was possible that someone in this world could be capable of feeling so much sadness and pain, if a human would have felt the same, it would have exploded. But I had to do it, I had to endure it, I couldn't give up, I couldn't let myself fall into the darkness that threatened to cover me, I had to endure, for Bella, do it for Bella, I told myself. In that moment, I didn't know if the love would be enough to keep me alive, the pain was so intense, that it burned me inside out, I felt how the blood that I didn't need anymore, boiled through my useless veins, leaving ashes in its place, the heart that someday had beaten was more dead than ever, all in my interior was dead, and not in the way in which I had died when I was changed, than pain of seeing Bella in that situation, it was like a injury that would never heal, that would be there all my existence, that wouldn't let me live, is she died.

I felt how every step that I gave took me to my destruction, I wanted to stop, but I couldn't, Bella was waiting for me a few steps ahead, and she was my savior, I had to keep that bit of little hope that I had known since Bella was at my side, to hope that everything would go well, that destiny couldn't be so cruel as to take away my heart, because that was what Bella was, I couldn't live without her. I had to do something, I would find a way. Nothing is impossible, I told myself not very convincingly, it was like a very beautiful dream, that Bella and I at the end of all of this horror story would have a happy ending as the ones in the fairy tales.

I wasn't her charming prince, I hadn't saved her from the wicked witch, I was the damn monster that believed that could be free from the spell, from the curse with which it had lived for a century, and would have an opportunity to defeat destiny, and be happy with the princess. Bella had been wrong, and now she was paying such a high cost for her mistake, had given her back to her humanity, for something that wasn't worth it. But it was my fault that I had allowed it. I would never forgive myself, never.

I hadn't realized that I had stayed stood in the door frame, my feet seemed glued to the floor, my muscles didn't respond, my eyes didn't see anything, I was like trapped in the middle of nothing, in the darkness that I had been afraid of, there wasn't even a ray of light that told me where I was, that let me see where I should go. I was trapped, and I knew that it was that way how it should feel to be dying, but I couldn't die, I had to take care of Bella, then I heard the only sound that could take me out of that hole.

"Edward, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

I didn't know how, but as soon as I felt her touch in my face, her fragile hands and her warmth over my hard and cold skin, I woke up from that nightmare. Her eyes were worried, I saw myself reflected on them, and somewhat I knew that I couldn't allow her to see me that way, then I understood why, suddenly her eyes were anxious, she started shaking lightly, the tension of the moment, of seeing me that way, it worried her, it made her ill, as is she was sick. I instantly got worried. I fixed my factions in a supposedly serene mask, waiting for Bella to calm down.

"Everything good, love. Are you ready?" My tone was fake, but Bella couldn't hear the pain in the depth of my words, she calmed down a little. I took one of my hands to her cheek, and cleaned a wet path that some tear that had escaped.

"Yes, I am. Are we leaving now?"

"Right this moment."

I told her with a sign to come out through the door, while I closed it, I took her hand, and when we were walking towards the boat, I put my arms around her. We walked at her pace, slowly and with care. That was how I felt every one of her movements. I tried to control my emotions, it was attacking me the rage, to know that that monster was growing inside of her in those moments, now her stomach looked more like she was pregnant. There was no way to deny it or hide it. The hand of my Bella that wasn't around me, stayed in her stomach, as if taking care that nothing hurt her.

I helped her up to the boat, Bella sat in the same place that when we were coming to the island, while I prepared everything to depart immediately, Bella saw where I had put the food, and without telling me nothing, she raised, the movement scared me, and I was at her side in a second.

"What is it?"

Bella sighed, it always had exasperated her that I overreacted for anything.

"I'll just take a packet of cookies. I'm hungry." She explained to me. I immediately relaxed.

I moved in less than a second, I took the packet and came back to her side, Bella didn't even have time to blink.

"If you need something, just tell me." I told her when I was putting the packed in her hands.

"Of course. Thanks, Edward."

I nodded with the head, Bella came back to sit and I to prepare to depart.

I was so nervous, that I didn't already know what I was doing, my mind and my eyes spent more time over Bella, watching every change, as little as it was, every hair that flew with the air, every one of her blinks, of her breaths, of her heartbeats, everything. After several minutes of being in the boat, I finally finished preparing the boat to depart. As the first time, Bella clung to seat, but the image didn't made me smile, I didn't know if slowing the speed or stopping the boat, or what to do to not stress her, and that stressed me. After about ten minutes of departing, Bella twisted in her seat and I recognized her expression.

I immediately put the boat in automatic and stood at her side, Bella already had her face stuck out of the board, she was sick, throwing out the little food she had eaten. I held her hair, the air surrounding us, flew it all over. After a few minutes, her face raised and turned to see me, her eyes were still tired, as if she had been days making the same thing. I put my hands over her forehead, trying to calm down the heat of her skin and how sick she was.

"It's over?" I asked her worried.

"Yes, it is. Could you give me a bottle of water?2

Without telling her more, I raised to take the bottle of water, I came back to her side and gave to her. Bella opened it, she took a sip of water into her mouth, and rinse it.

"Could you give me my toothbrush when we get to airport, or here?"

"Whatever you prefer." Always her option.

She thought about it for a moment, and answered me. "Here."

I looked in her bag and gave her the bad where she put her things. I came back to rudder, there were still another thirty minutes of the journey. I thought if it would be good that Bella kept trying to eat something, maybe it would get her more sick than she already was. The thought made me angry, everytime that she felt wrong, everytime that I saw her suffering, everytime that I saw her twisting with pain, would be a reminder of what I had done to her. All those moments would stay engraved in my memory, they would never be able to get out of my memories, all my existence would be haunting me. All.

All the good memories got erased, I couldn't remember them, I couldn't because in those moments, I was able to experience any king of happiness anymore, it evaded me, it was like they had never existed in my life, as if I would never be able to feel it again. It was like if my mind and my body were preparing to lose Bella, I well knew that without her, nothing in this life would have any sense, any feeling like love and happiness would be back to be seen in my face.

We spent the next minutes in silence, miraculously Bella didn't feel sick again in what the journey lasted the rest of way, she kept firmly between her hands a bottle of water, the heat were causing her dehydration faster than normal. It was as if her body didn't process what she consumed. It worried me the fact of what I thought it was happening. I couldn't read anything in her eyes, Bella kept her head down, as if to keep away from the rays of the sunlight, it surely hurt her eyes.

When we arrived to the dock, I put the bags down first, then I helped Bella, in the same way as she had gotten up, a hand in mine and the other in her stomach. I didn't if it was for fear that she were going to get sick again or because that thing could get hurt. I didn't dare to ask her. While we walked to the entrance of dock, I dialed to the airport to ask them to send us a taxi. It would be there in fifteen minutes. Bella was still saying no word.

I didn't know what to say either, we just stayed waiting for those short minutes to the taxi to come, Bella never let go of my hand, and with the other a bottle of water. It seemed strange something in the situation, that she was so quiet, that she didn't even turn to see me, it reminded of a time ago, when I thought that I had lost her love completely, in other country just like in that moment, in Italy, when were the lookout for the Volturi, I felt Bella the same way, just like that day, without any reaction, as if she didn't feel anything for me, in this occasion I was sure that she didn't want to talk with me, that she was upset with what I had done.

That hurt me more than to know that it was my fault. I didn't stand the idea that my angel could hate me as more deserved as I had it, but then I remembered that in my life would be no more than pain, and that pain just could be caused by Bella, directly or indirectly.

Every second the hole in which I was trapped was sinking me into it more and more, and I knew that I couldn't get out to the surface if it wasn't hand-in-hand with Bella. If she didn't get out, I wouldn't, and I knew that in the end neither of us would, because from there I wouldn't get out alone. I rather died, or I deserved to stay all the eternity in this world, suffering for the rest of my days of this pain that destroyed me inside out, that was the worst punishment that could be given to me, to lose her forever. To feel that fire burning me inside, for the first time, I considered myself a living dead, it was more than a zombie or a monster. And it always would be that way, and for the first time also, I considered to not go looking for my death after my angel's, I couldn't allow it for my end to be that easy, I deserved to suffer for the rest of my existence for every injury that I had caused to her heart and her body, every drop of blood that she had shed by being in close proximity to my world, every tear that she had shed because of my fault, every pain that I had inflicted on her, all the love and supposedly happiness that she could consider that I had given her, didn't compare to the pain that my love had caused her. And as if it wasn't enough, I had to damn her to this so unjust ending.

I heard Bella starting to breath with a little more difficulty, my eyes went to her face in less than a sigh.

"What is it? What does it hurt you?

Bella wipe her forehead with her hand, it was boiling when I touched it. The drops of sweat fell withuot stopping. Her face looked paler.

"It's just the heat." She barely told me, her voice was just a low whisper.

I held her tightly into my arms, trying to pass the coldness of my body to hers. It wasn't the normal temperature of her body, it was more than the once caused for being standing under the sun. I didn't know what to do, I just took that bottle of water in her hand and took off the lid, and I gave it to her.

"Drink some water, you could get dehydrated."

Without telling me anything, she took the bottle in her hand and took several sips. It didn't work at all, she had barely swallowed the water, when she was already throwing it out. Thank God! The taxi came in that moment, the driver rushed to get out, he offered me his help with Bella when he saw her so sick, even the man got worried when he saw his figure so sick. I thanked him, but I asked him to better get the bags up and leave immediately. We arrived in a few minutes. We had to wait another hour for the plane to take off. I thought that maybe she would want to eat.

"Do you want something to eat?"

Bella didn't even turn to see me, she shook her hear instead of answering me.

I didn't dare to offer her something more. Maybe Bella was hating me more than what I thought, she was finally accepting the monster that I was, she was finally afraid of me. And I couldn't do anything about it, I deserved her loath, and I took it, I embraced it, it was the punishment that I deserved for all my sins, for putting my eyes in someone so good and so pure as Bella, for ruining her life, her health, her future, everything.

When we got on the plane, Bella didn't put her look on my face again, though one of her hands kept secure between mine. She spent most of the time looking through the window. She didn't speak a word to me, she just answered to some of my questions when it was necessary. I thought that she was too scare to talk about it, I as also scared, I didn't want to talk about what we would do when we go home, I didn't want to scare her more than she should already were.

Bella fell asleep in a moment, the hand that had been between mine, had struggled to get free, and though it hurt me that she didn't want me to touch her, I let it go, her hands had fallen over her stomach, her face looking towards the closed window. If I had been able to cry, tear would had dampened my face for hours. It was an unbearable pain that I tried to hide. When Bella woke up, her face looked less sick, almost normal, if it wasn't because I knew her face better than mine, I wouldn't have realized that there we still signs of distress and worry in the lines of her face, it wasn't so pale anymore and the temperature had decreased, almost normal again. That caused a little relieve at least.

When there were still twenty minutes to arrive to Seattle. I tried to talk to her again.

"Bella, don't be frightened. Everything would be okay. We'll take care of everything necessary for you to not suffer, for you to not get hurt."

"Yes, I know."

She just said that, and her look kept straight ahead, she suddenly turned her face to the window, her hair fell to the side of her face that was at my sight, preventing me from seeing her expression, but I heard her sobbing, and how the drops of salty water that were coming out of her eyes slid over her cheeks.

She was mad, with me, for what had done to her, for putting her life in risk again. It was the only thing that my logic allowed me to think, to believe, her actions didn't help me. She hadn't let me see into her eyes, I didn't know what she was feeling. She spent almost all the flight, looking to the closed window, straight ahead, her hands interwined over her stomach, everything, except me. She barely uttered a few words to me. And it was killing me not knowing if she hated me, that after all that we had passed, I had done to her the only thing that had made appear hate in her heart. I had done Bella to know that so dark feeling, such a pure soul like her hating. I hated myself, every second that passed, those feelings were the only ones that filled me, hate, rage for what I had done, and pain, much pain.

The next flight to Port Angeles, was the same. When we had gotten on the plane that would take us home, Bella finally spoke to me. It surprised me, I was thinking that she was never going to talk to me, that she would never want to see me close to her.

"Who will meet us at the airport?" She told me, but her eyes were still straight ahead.

"Everyone, Carlisle and Esme, Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett. Why? What happens?"

I got worried, maybe she didn't want to go home, but with her father. To stay away from me immediately. But we had to treat her, to know how to get that thing out of her.

Bella answered me again with her head, she just shook it side to side. And we kept walking.

I had insisted again to her to eat something, and she had told me that she would ask something in the plane. When we got on the plane, I spoke to one of flight attendants when we were already flying to Port Angeles, the lady had brought some cookies, it was a short flight, and everything else they had Bella had refused. When she opened the bag where the food was, her nose wrinkled as if the smell bothered her. Still she took one of the cookies to her mouth, chewed it and swallowed it with difficulty, as if in fact she didn't want to eat it. She took a sip of water to help the food to go down her throat. But she took one of her hands to her mouth, and almost raised running. I raised behind her, and saw her going into the bathroom, I neared the door, and heard what I was afraid, she was throwing out the tiny bite that she had forced.

When she came out, her face was wet, as if she had washed her entire face. I put my hands over her face, it wasn't out of her normal temperature.

"Are you okay?"

"I am, it was just nauseas."

She told me, while she took her hands to her face, put them over mine, and I thought she was wanting to enjoy from the coldness, to relieve some of her state, but took my hands and felt how she pulled them. I pulled them away immediately and Bella walked back to her seat. I stood frozen a moment in the hall, thinking.

She really hates you!

The thought put a lump in my throat. I didn't come back to my seat until the flight attendant told me that the plane was about to land, that I had to take my seat. I nodded with my head and came back to her side. I found her in the same position in which she had been the most part of the flight. Looking to the window and her hands interwined over her stomach. I didn't say anything while I took my seat.

The plane finally was losing height, and when we were on the runway, nearing the building of the airport, I heard slightly to the voices of my family.

Everyone except Rosalie showed worry about the situation we were facing now, they were worried about Bella, none of them were sure of what should be done. I neither knew. My first sister, was throwing insults in my direction. She wasn't thinking about anything else, it didn't seem strange to me, I wasn't even thinking in the possibility that she would be hiding something from me, it was normal that she accused me of irresponsible, of stupid and all the things that I heard in her mind, in this occasion they were true, I couldn't deny it.

We got off the plane and took our bags. Bella was looking with her eyes to our family. I already heard them perfectly, and they knew I could hear them.

_Edward, son, everything's ready to make the analysis to Bella and help her as soon as we get home. Don't worry, everything will come out well._

Carlisle was begging me to not worry, that he already had everything ready to attend Bella in which were necessary. Still I couldn't help but worry.

_Ah, how will Bella feel? My children, everything's got to be fine. Everything..._

There was something in them that I didn't like. Esme wasn't thinking as Carlisle and I, there was something different in her worry.

My other siblings were thinking almost the same. All the worry was focused on Bella, it was obvious, she was the one carrying inside of her a monster. Just Alice were focusing in my for moments, thinking about what would be my reaction, what I felt, she knew me better than no one.

As soon as Bella saw them, her eyes almost bugged out, I could see it more directly from the mind of Rosalie, then, without previous notice, she pulled my hand, I released it, and saw her running in direction of my sister, when she got to her they embraced each other, as if looking for refuge, and Rosalie's arms as if protecting her, and the I saw it.

_Everything will be fine. I will take care of that. The baby will be born safe and sound._

I understood in that moment. Her silence, her indifference, everything.

Bella would die trying to give birth to that monster,

I would die in her useless effort.

**Really hope you'd enjoyed reading. I'm almost done with the next one.**

**See you.**


	9. Chapter 8, madness

**SO SORRY FOR NOT UPLOADING BEFORE! PROBLEMS... BUT I'M UPLOADING THREE CHAPTERS. HOPE YOU ENJOY!**

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Chapter 8. MADNESS

The speed with which Carlisle drove the Mercedes was frustratedly slow, Esme and Rosalie had asked him to drive even slower than normal, even slower than how Bella drove, they didn't want that any bump or brusque movement could hurt her or the... fetus. I was next to the window, Bella had her head laid over my shoulder, one of her hands were over her stomach as it had become habit during the last hours, the other hand, I never thought that I would see those two hands interwined together, Rosalie had the fragile hand securely interwined with hers at the other side of Bella who were sitting between the two of us.

All my conclusions, all my theories, everything that I believed that Bella was feeling when we were on the plane, everything had been worse that wrong, I would have preferred that Bella hated me than she would have decided to sacrifice her life to give it to that monster. Never, not even in my wildest imagination I would have been able to imagine what Bella was planning to do.

Wasn't she conscious of the danger?

But what was I thinking? Since when Bella had worried about the danger that surrounded her? It didn't worry her or cared about. In those moments she didn't care anything about that.

_Listen to me, Edward Cullen. Think thoroughly about what I am going to say..._

I had the crazy impulse of ripping her head in the moment, but I couldn't, not when Bella was in the middle of us. Rosalie didn't care about anything else than just the... baby. Like she said. I knew very well that it wasn't any of that, it was a monster.

_Don't you dare touching a single hair to Bella, the baby will be born, you want it or not. Don't even try to stop it, I would bite your head off._

The baby, the baby. It was everything that Rosalie cared about, there was no thought that told me that she cared about what could happen to Bella, while the monster came out of her alive. My sister just thought that she would have an opportunity of being a mother like she never had after being changed into a vampire. She was happy, excited for being able of having a baby in her arms, of taking care of him and saw him growing next to Emmett, now she would have the family that she never could, the family that I would never have, because Bella and I wouldn't be there, I knew that that monster would kill her and I wouldn't stay in this world without her in it.

Well, Rosalie could have whatever she wanted, I didn't care. I neither cared what she said, I would do even the impossible to convince Bella to not keep with her insane plan. And I would make sure of achieving it before it was too late.

I would let her go after that if she wanted it that way, I wouldn't hinder her to remake her life far away from me, as much as it hurt me. After what I had done, it was the least that I could give her, her freedom, and I wouldn't refuse. Bella deserved it. I deserved to lose her, but she couldn't die because she wanted to be a mother. It didn't have to be this way, she was human, pregnancy was supposed to be enjoyable, it had to be a life-changing experience, that way, not this way. Esme had to know it, I didn't understand why she didn't support me, because she thought that being at Bella's side was the best.

_Son, you know it's what Bella wants. Everything will work out somehow._

Esme had said that to me when I realized she was supporting Bella. Those were the words that she always told to reassure me. Now I didn't believe it, I couldn't.

I didn't have any idea of what I would do to force Bella to abort that thing, Rosalie would never have helped me even if she hadn't been allied with her, Esme neither would have done it, but maybe neither of them had refused. Now neither of them would allow it, Emmett would never let me get close to Rosalie, and Carlisle would never help me against Esme. Alice and jasper wouldn't help me either, because though they agreed with me, with that thing would hurt Bella, my sister would never do something against Bella, and if Alice asked him, Jasper would never help me. I was completely alone.

I felt again in that black hole in which I had fallen in, the darkness was getting over me, and I felt more alone than ever. I slowly felt, how every part of me were tearing apart from me, and they were falling into the fire, I would never be able to gather them again. Every second that passed, fell another piece of me, every second that that thing was still inside of Bella, I wouldn't be able to rest until Bella was safe, that she wasn't carrying that thing inside of her body anymore that would end up killing her. The only thing that I had to keep serene, was my face, I couldn't allow that Bella was the pain that was filling me, I had to be strong for her, just for her. Somehow, somewhere I had to take some strength, I had to do something to save her.

We got to Forks in almost two hours, the speed was getting me craziest, I had to be in action, moving, I had to search for some way to help Bella, to convince everyone that they were wrong, that things couldn't go the way they thought. I didn't even had the help of Alice, my sister hadn't been able to see anything since the moment in which Bella had decided to keep that thing, and when Rosalie, Emmett and Esme decided to help Bella, and all the others decisions that had put us in that position, Alice couldn't have seen anything else. It was like she had lost her gift. That frustrated her and dot her desperate, and more than anything it scared her, she didn't have any idea of how everything would end. I couldn't ask Bella to reconsider, giving her the excuse that Alice had already seen it, that everything would end up wrong. And though she would have, I was sure that this time, she wouldn't hear me. She wouldn't care anything at all about Alice's visions.

When we arrived to the house, I got down the car to help Bella to get down too, then I realized that Rosalie already had her with a foot in the ground from the other door. It got me desperate and it bothered me that my sister separated me from Bella.

"Are you okay, Bella? The trip must have exhausted you."

_I hope it hasn't stressed her, it would be bad for the baby._

All her thought were centered in that thing.

"I'm fine, Rose. The trip on the plane was longer and you can see..."

Bella didn't finish talking, her hand had flown to her mouth, she was sick again. I was at her side in less than a second. Rosalie pushed me away with a hand, preventing me to come closer. She helped Bella with her hair while she was crouched down, throwing out pure liquids, she hadn't been able to eat anything, not even drinking. It would leave her drained. And that reminded me that what we had to investigate why Bella was rejecting everything she ingested.

Esme and Carlisle were next to Rosalie. Seeing that Bella wasn't too much sick.

_Edward, don't worry. The nauseas are a very normal symptom of pregnancy._

Esme wanted to calm me down. But that wasn't what I was worried about. But the fact that everything that Bella ingested she threw it out. Everything.

"Carlisle. Can I speak to you, please?"

_Of course, son. What happens?_

I couldn't finish because Bella had raised her face, and her eyes searched me immediately, when I saw them, wet from the few tears that had escaped her, I was at her side in less than a second, Rosalie didn't even have time to react. I heard her snarling when she saw me so close to Bella. Did she think that I would hurt her in that condition she was in? In spite of wanting that thing out of her, I would never try it if she didn't allow it to me.

"Bella, are you feeling well?"

Bella wiped her mouth with a hand, there was nothing to wipe. Then her hand went to her forehead, a few drops of sweat were starting to well up, even when the weather wasn't the indicated to be hot. My hands touched her forehead, and her temperature was so out of normal.

"Bella, answer. Are you okay?" Rosalie told her, a little worried. More for the thing than for Bella.

She finally get the breath back, her eyes stayed on my face for a second, and as Bella had been the last one to ask, she turned to her and answered.

"I'm fine, Rose. But tired. Edward, could you help me?"

I was about to take her in my arms, when Rosalie already had her between hers. She growled at me again.

_Don't even dare._

"Rose!" Esme told her in a scolding tone for what she had done.

"Bella looked for me to care of her. And that's what I'll do. Although someone doesn't like it."

"She is my wife, not yours. I am the one who has the obligation of taking care of her."

_That's why you want to kill your own son._

"That has nothing to do with it."

"Of course not."

"Enough." Bella could barely said.

I wanted to take her from the arm, but Rosalie pushed me with an arm. I was about to rip it off, when I felt Emmett behind me, preventing me to do something.

_Calm down, Edward._

"Get off me. Don't touch me."

I heard how Bella's breathing started to become faster and difficult. The sweat in her face was starting to fall down faster, her heart also accelerated.

"Could you stop?" She said with her voice breaking.

"Alright. Calm down Bella."

I released Rosalie and Emmett released me. Both of them started walking towards the house, I stayed stood in the same place while a saw everyone behind Rosalie and Bella. Carlisle had stayed at my side, waiting for me to speak with him about what I was going to tell him. The last thing I saw before they walked through the door was Bella's eyes on me, I smiled encouragingly.

When Bella had completely crossed the door and was out of my sight, I turned to see Carlisle, who was still waiting for me to tell him what I had to.

_Son, what is it that has you worried?_

"Apart from the obvious?"

_You know what I mean, Edward._

"I know, and I'm sorry. It's just that the nauseas of Bella and being throwing out all of that, it's not that normal as Esme and everyone think."

"It's normal in the pregn..."

"No, Carlisle. Listen to me." I cut him off when I heard that he insisted that it was normal.

"Of course, son. I'm listening."

_I'm sorry for interrupting you._

"Don't worry. What is happening is that Bella hadn't been able to eat anything since yesterday, before we... received you call."

"Which are her symptoms when she tries to eat?"

"It seemed that even the smell bothered her, Carlisle. Before we left the island, the cleaning woman took us something to eat and... with just smelling it, Bella started throwing up. Then, when we were on the boat, Bella tried to eat some cookies and it happened the same, even with the water. On the plane happened too."

"Are you sure?"

"Carlisle, on the plane Bella forced herself to try to eat because she was hungry, she had barely swallowed a bite when she was already stood going to the bathroom with her hand on her mouth. It got me worried."

_I see now. We'll have to start with the tests immediately._

"Bella has to abort, there's no other option." I told him in a inflexible tone. It was me who wasn't going to change his mind. But I saw in his mind that he wasn't completely agreed with me.

_Edward, son._

"What?"

"You have to consider what Bella wants. And it's to keep the baby."

"Baby? That thing can't be nothing more than a monster." My tone had raised in volume. To hear that they called that thing baby exasperated me.

_Relax, Edward. We don't know that with certainty. Bella's her mother, and we're still humans, though we're from other specie now... you know what I mean._

"That doesn't matter."

Carlisle saw that it would be impossible to reason with me in that moment. He gave up with a sigh. I saw his point, but I couldn't accept it.

Then we heard the sound that makes the glass when it falls to the floor and breaks. Two sounds of liquids were falling to the floor. Bella was gasping. It hadn't been more than half a second when I was already walking in through the door to the house, Bella was sitting on the couch, Esme and Rosalie were helping her, she had just vomited. Her face didn't look very healthy. It was pale, there was no color in her cheeks. Her hands were holding her stomach.

"Bella, are you okay?"

_She was just drinking a little water, Edward. I don't know what happened._

I do, I thought.

I was at her side in another half a second.

"Bella? Couldn't you drink water again?

_Again?_

Esme and Rosalie though at the same time, while they both were looking at me, her eyes questioning me.

Bella recovered a little, she raised her head and laid over the couch. Her eyes kept closed while she was trying to control her breathing.

"Bella?" I asked her again. It was still worrying me her state.

She opened her eyes and looked me. There was a little pain in them. Her hands were still over her stomach. I didn't want to think that it was what I was imagining. It was finally hurting her. I knew that would end up happening.

I raised my eyebrows, telling her to answer to my question.

"I'm fine. It's just that the water tastes off."

I didn't believe her words. Or was the water from all over the globe or was her body rejecting the liquid.

Carlisle intervened.

"Bella. Edward and I've been talking that you haven't been able to eat or drink anything. We have to start making some tests, see what's happening."

Bella's eyes got anxious immediately.

"To check if the baby is fine, right?"

"Yes, Carlisle. We had to make sure that there's nothing wrong with the baby."

Rosalie agreed. She was tremendously worried for that thing not for Bella.

"To check that both of you are fine, Bella."

Bella seemed relieved when she heard the words of Carlisle. While that thing was fine, she was happy. In that moment I couldn't help but wishing that the thing was fine, because Bella would feel better, I was sure of that.

The four of us came upstairs to Carlisle's office, that now seemed the room of a hospital. All the machines that he needed to take care of Bella, to make all the necessary tests to her, everything was there. It relieved me a little to know that there was everything necessary to take perfectly care of her. Rosalie had Bella from an arm while I was at her other side, Carlisle in the front, guiding us and preventing my sister and I to start arguing.

When we walked into the office Bella sat in a chair, nor Rosalie nor I left her side any moment.

_Let's start then._

"Will you use needles, Carlisle?" Bella asked, her voice full of worry and her irrational fear at needles.

"Of everything you should be afraid of."

I told Bella, mi voice full of reproach. The needles were the less thing she should be afraid of. It weren't those things that were hurting her. Nor taking her to the death either.

Bella turned to see me, and understanding my words and my tone, she stuck out her tongue to me. I couldn't say anything else because Rosalie began speaking to her.

"Don't worry, Bella. Everything will be fine. It's necessary, to make sure the baby is okay."

_That will encourage her to not refuse._

Rosalie was thinking, she was just thinking in things to encourage her, to give her courage to make things that Bella wouldn't had done for any reason.

"I know. Let's do it!" Bella said, trying to sound cheered.

"Alright, Bella. Please, laid on this stretcher. We'll make the ultrasound."

_We'll see how grown is the ba... fetus._

Carlisle decided to change his words in the last second, knowing how much I hated that they called it baby.

I suddenly felt Bella's heartbeats racing. A smile was forming in her lips and her eyes were shining in such a beautiful way. I couldn't deny it. But when I remembered which was the reason for her excitement, my bad mood returned.

Rosalie helped her to get into the stretcher, while Carlisle prepared everything to make the ultrasound. I didn't know if to neared her side, or if to stay where I was standing. I wasn't interested in seeing to that monster. But Bella turned to see me, her eyes almost crying when she realized that I had no intention of seeing that thing. She raised her hand in my direction, asking me to join her.

_Agh. Why doesn't she leave him in that corner? He'll just ruin the moment. She doesn't even love his own son._

The image ob Bella begging me to join her, that I were at her side in that moment, broke my heart, and without being conscious of my actions, I neared to her. Ignoring Rosalie. I smiled at Bella when I took her hand, Bella smiled back, her eyes full of joy. She had me where she wanted, and would never lose me, I would never be able to deny her something.

I never took my eyes off of Bella's face. The three of them had their eyes on the little screen where they would see for the first time to that monster.

I heard how Carlisle put over her stomach the necessary liquid.

_Well, here we go._

Rosalie was about to explode of emotion. I felt how Bella squeezed my hand when she felt the cold liquid over her stomach. I waited for a moment, and didn't hear anything.

_Nothing?_

I heard the confusion of Rosalie and Carlisle. There was nothing?

"Carlisle, what's wrong?"

Bella asked my father. Her eyes were on her stomach. Her hand was still on mine. The tone in her voice was a mixture of confusion, and more than anything else, fear. When Carlisle didn't answer, he didn't have any idea of what could be happening, he was trying to thing which was the reason that they couldn't see nothing, Bella turned to see me, her eyes showed the same that her voice did, I felt how Bella tightened her grip on my hand, asking me to comfort her, that I told her something that calmed her anxiety. I didn't know what to say.

"Edward?"

I had taken off my eyes from her face, I didn't stand to see that fear in them, even when I knew that I had nothing to do with it to be there. I turned to see Carlisle, who was still trying to find an explanation.

Bella took her hands to her stomach again. I didn't know why, but Bella started shuddering slightly, her face was full of sweat and her heart started beating faster. Rosalie also felt the change, and started worrying, for that thing.

"Bella, I'm sure that there's nothing wrong. Calm down, it can be bad for the baby."

She just nodded with her head, in that moment nothing made her feel better. I didn't like to see her so anxious, and so worried. I leaned down to see her close to the eyes, when she felt me so close, Bella turned her eyes to my face, and a little smile seemed wanting to form in her lips. I put my hands on each side of her face, she was very hot, she was sick and getting worse everytime more.

"You're going to be fine, love. Everything's going to be fine."

It was everything that I told her, my words were enough for her to consider that I was talking as much about her as about that thing, but I was just talking about her health. Bella calmed down a bit, and her smile grew bigger.

In that moment we hear a bump, Carlisle and Rosalie turned to see me immediately, as if I was the one who had caused it.

"It wasn't me."

but I turned to see to the face of Bella, she had her lips pressed together as if holding back a scream of pain, that same pain that I was seeing in her eyes, her hands were over her stomach, but they weren't just resting over it, it was as if it hurt her. Then I understood.

"Bella? Did that thing hurt you?"

Her eyes rest in mine, and I saw another kind of pain in them.

"It's not a thing, it was a just a kick. Babies do it all the time."

Damn! That thing wasn't just a simple baby, it was a monster that wouldn't rest until see her dead.

"It's okay, Bella. You're right." Rosalie tried to calm her.

The rage was going to my head, I felt like I was going to explode. That situation was going to make me mad. Rosalie and Bella together in that madness were going to kill me. The complete selfishness of my sister was indescribable, but I wasn't capable of hating her, and Bella, I could never be angry at her, not knowing that everything that she did was because of my fault.

Carlisle saw the rage taking a hold of me, and intervened before something were to be said that I was going to regret.

"Bella, I need to check your stomach. Can I?"

He told her while starting to near his hands towards her stomach. He had a theory about the reason why we couldn't see that thing, I was almost agreed with him.

Bella turned to see me, scared. I just nodded with my head, and my sister spoke.

"It's okay. Carlisle won't do anything that hurt the baby, Bella."

Rosalie and Bella turned to see each other. Her eyes rest in my face for a second before turning to see Carlisle, she smiled slightly while nodding.

Carlisle put his cold hands over the stomach of Bella, and with the temperature so high that Bella had in the moment, I wasn't surprised that she shuddered. He made some small test over her stomach, trying to find why they couldn't see anything with the ultrasound.

_Oh, I see now._

"What is it, Carlisle?" Rosalie and Bella asked at the same time.

"I think that I know why we couldn't see the... fetus."

"Why? What's wrong?" Bella asked worried.

"There's nothing wrong with the fetus. I think that the membrane is as hard as our skin, Bella. That's why we could see anything. I might try to get some amniotic fluid from it, that would give us a better idea of what it is, or how is it."

_Of course not._ Rosalie immediately thought.

"No, Carlisle. I wont allow that you try to get anything inside of Bella."

Bella turned to see Rosalie when she listened to her tone, she didn't believe that Carlisle were going to do something to the thing, I saw it in her eyes.

"Rosalie, I'm not going to hurt it."

"I don't care."

"Rose. I don't believe that Carlisle wants to hurt us."

"Of course not, Bella."

"No, Bella. Maybe not Carlisle, but Edward." Oh, I would do it gladly, but I would never allow myself to hurt even more Bella. I would never do anything against her will.

"Edward would never do anything against us, Rose."

Rosalie snorted. She didn't believe it.

"I wouldn't, Rosalie. Not while Bella isn't agreed."

_Fine, but she is not. So keep your hands off of her._

I didn't say anything to her words. They kept arguing a few more minutes. Carlisle was trying to explain, more than anything to Rosalie, that it would be good to have a little of the amniotic fluid, he gave up after a moment, he himself said that he thought impossible being able to get a needle through the amniotic sac, he thought that the membrane was like our skin, too hard. So the discussion ended. Rosalie helped Bella to get down from the stretcher, while Carlisle began to accommodate the necessary thing to make other tests. He looked for some medicine to treat the pain that Bella still had because of the kick from that thing, and to get her temperature down.

When we came out of the office of Carlisle, Rosalie turned Bella in direction to the stairs, but Bella stopped and turned to see me.

"Edward, can't we go to you bedroom?"

"You mean our bedroom." Bella smiled at my correction.

_No way._

"Bella, I'm not leaving you alone with Edward." _Don't even thing about it, Edward._

"I'll be fine, you can hear us all the time. I just want to sleep, I'm tired."

"Are you sure?"

"That's enough, Rosalie. I can be all the time that I want with _my_ wife, alone."

_Fine. You win. But if I hear any weird sound. Watch your back, Edward. Watch your back._

"Yes, yes, right." I told her, without much patience. Rosalie release Bella's arms. I took her into my arms and smiled at her. "Shall we?"

"Sure."

We went upstairs at human pace to our room. I was careful on not moving her too strong, something that could cause that thing to move wrongly and hit her or hurt her.

For the first time, Bella kept her arms interwined on my neck, her head laid over my chest, it almost felt normal, it didn't seem to be anything our of normal. A small smile was drawn in her lips, her eyes we closed. The only thing that told that it was different, was the small bulge on her stomach, growing at an alarming speed. I kept controlled, I took my eyes off her stomach, and put them on her face, it looked so quiet, so peaceful. It was almost as if nothing around us disturbed her peace. It was a hopeful image.

When we walked through the door of our bedroom, I neared to the bed slowly and with much careful, much more than the normal, I placed her over the bed. It was still the same as how I had left it the day of our wedding.

Her eyelids opened to let me see inside of her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. Her soul was still intact, I felt how in spite of everything, I could still see inside of them. In that moment there was a special happiness, something like I had never seen before, it was a glow like just the love a mother could feel, though I hated that thing inside of her, Bella was going to be a mom, and that could be seen in the glow in her eyes. For a short second, I felt how things might work, and then I remembered every bump that that thing had given to Bella, her face with her lips pressed together holding back a scream of pain, her face bathed in sweat, every effort she had done to eat and she ended up sicker than before came to my mind, and I was more sure than before, that this wouldn't end good.

Bela smiled when she saw me at her side when I was placing her over the bed, one of her hands raised towards my face, and she caressed sweetly my cheek. It then went to my neck, pulling my face towards hers, and I immediately knew that she wanted. And as I would never learn to refuse her, I let myself to be pulled by her weak hand. Her lips barely brushed mine, Bella turned her face to my cheek, and she gave me another sweet kiss, both of her hands interwined behind my neck, and her lips were again on my lips, it began like a soft kiss, but I heard how her heart were starting to beat faster, her breathing getting more difficult, thinking that she was getting sick I tried to pull away.

"No!" My Bella told me, while clinging from my neck to my face, pressing her lips harder, with more enthusiasm, I kissed her back in the same way, and I felt how one of her hands were sliding from my neck to my hair, where her fingers interwined between it. One of my hands were caressing her soft cheeks, and the other one was over her back, pulling her against my chest.

It felt so good having her so close to me, as if at being at my side, in my arms nothing could hurt her, but I knew that right now, that wasn't that way. That thought put a lump in my throat, and all my need, the urgency of having her lips against mines were gone, in a second my lips shaping themselves against her lips turned into hard rock, unresponsive. Bella felt the change, and she stopped, we pushed away our faces from each other at the same time. I could force my eyes to rest on her face, all the pain that I had felt since I knew what Bella had, the state in which my angel was, returned to fill my factions, every fiber of my being.

The eyes of Bella almost burned my face with her look, one of her hands went to my cheek, her caress was almost comfortant. She knew it and wouldn't change her mind. She would die for that thing.

"Edward." Bella said, her voice was barely more than a whisper, she knew I could hear her perfectly. My eyes never raised. "I know it's hard, and I know you're suffering because of me."

"No, it's not because of you. It's all my fault."

It would never be her fault. It was me who hadn't had the strength and the courage enough to live without her, I had to get her into this world of horror. She would never be the guilty for my own suffer, I myself had looked for it, and now it had found me.

"Yes, it is. Listen to me, you shouldn't be suffering because of my decision. And I am causing you an incalculable pain, I know. But I'm not going to give up our baby."

Her words would have been beautiful in other situation.

"That can't be a baby, it's a monster."

"Edward! Don't you say that again."

"It's the truth."

I knew what would be all of her answers.

"No, it's not." She sighed before speaking again. "I'm not aborting. I'm going to have this baby. I love him as I love you. I can't live without him, it's part of our lives already."

"Of course not. When it left you without life, you won't be able to say it was worth it."

"I don't care. He won't be lacking love. You'll take care of him and love him if I'm not here."

Was she serious? Me? If I had thought she had lost her mind, that confirmed it.

"I won't live another second when you hear stopped beating. Don't ask me that. Because it would be the first time in my life that I would be able to refuse your wishes."

I would make sure of that. I couldn't promise her that I would stay in this world when she wasn't anymore. Much less to take care of that monster.

I wouldn't.

Bella didn't say anything. I finally raised my eyes, and her eyes were wet, the tears about to break out and fall down her cheeks.

"Edward, it's _our_ child. You must love him."

"Not when it's killing you."

"That's not true. We don't know how this pregnancy would be. Let's just wait and see how this advances."

I wasn't going to wait and see what it did to her.

"No,"

"Well, I'm not going to give up our baby. I won't."

"Why are you doing this Bella?"

I didn't understand why she did it. If she wanted to be a mother, why did she marry me, knowing, at that moment, that that wouldn't happen with me?

"Why are you doing this to me? You were the one who wanted me to be a mom, remember?"

"What?"

"Remember the night before our wedding? What was it that you told me?"

She couldn't be talking seriously. Of course I remembered exactly every one of my words, every one of my thoughts, everything that had happened. But Bella couldn't hold me in favor to what she was doing with those words.

"I didn't mean this."

"What did you mean then?"

"Is it that you don't see it? I can't give you what you want without hurting you. Nothing." My hands went to my hair, I felt like in any moment my hair would come into my fists.

Bella took my hands between hers, softening the force that I was exerting over my hair.

"That's not true."

"Bella, if I were human, we wouldn't be in this situation. Both of us would be happy to know that you're going to be mom, that you're going to give me a child. But it's not like that. I'm not human, I'm a monster, and that thing can't be nothing else than the same."

She stayed quiet for a moment. Thinking in what to say, editing her thoughts, her feelings.

"Never, listen to me. I had never believed that you're the monster that you think you are, and I'm not going to start believing it now. So don't try to convince me of that lie."

Lie? We were part of the horror stories, not of the fairy tales. Her terrible logic was the wrong way around, that's why she had never been afraid of me. But there wasn't another truth.

Bella stayed quiet again for a moment. It seemed to me like an eternity. I was dying to know what she was thinking. But I didn't dare to put voice into my words. There were moments in which I didn't want to know what was going through her mind, I preferred the mental silence of her thoughts. But it made me insane being in the darkness, that it was Bella the only person which I couldn't accede to her thoughts. It was the only thing I didn't have from her. And I didn't want to lose it more than I already didn't have.

My angel couldn't abandon me.

I had to find a way to convince her. To make her understand that this wouldn't take us to any pretty ending, much less to a happy ending.

I didn't know what to say of her words. It had always been that Bella didn't see me as a monster, but that was what I was. How to make her see? There had to be a solution that was escaping me, some solution for the hell where we were falling in. But I simply couldn't find it.

"Sleep, love. You're tired." I told her while she cuddled up between my arms. "We can discuss your words later." I was telling her, but I knew that she was already asleep. "We'll get that thing out of you. We'll get it out before it can hurt you."

I knew that Bella had fallen asleep completely in less than what lasted one of her heartbeats, and if she slept again as she had slept recently, I had to take advantage of these hours to convince my family that the best would be to get that thing out of Bella, I had to convince them. Rosalie would be a pain, she wouldn't give up, I knew her, she was more stubborn than Bella and I together. Than all the world together. Alice and Jasper wouldn't oppose, but the other ones. Well, I would find it out.

The most carefully that I could, I freed from the grasp of Bella's arms that had me surrounded. I settle Bella in the bed, and covered her with the comforter. She seemed and angel laid over golden clouds. It was an image that left breathless. I almost returned to her side and stayed there forever, I would never want to be separated from her side. But I had to go.

I opened the door without making the lowest sound that could disrupt her dream. Bella didn't even moved. Her breathing and her heartbeats kept even.

I got out of the room, and as if myself were human, as if all this tiredness, all this pain, and the anxiety that were filling me didn't let walk rapidly. I heard what everyone downstairs were thinking, where everyone was gathered while a got to them. They had heard my steps since I had opened the door. Everyone except Rosalie were worried about Bella's health.

When I got to the room, Carlisle was the first one to speak.

"I think we should go to the dining room and speak quietly about this." He emphasized the word quietly. He knew very well how our different temperaments raised when we were dealing with such a tense topic like this.

Alice was at my side in a blink. She wound her small arms around me.

_I'm sorry, Edward. If I would've known I would've told you._

"I know, Alice. It's okay." Her face was discontorted with the sorrow she was feeling. Alice loved Bella, she was like her sister. It hurt her that she was into this situation.

Rosalie and Emmett behind her, were the first one walking into the room. Then Carlisle and Esme, followed by Alice, Jasper and me.

My least favorite sister was already screaming at me in her mind that my words wouldn't work at all, that she, at least, wouldn't change her mind.

_Everything will be unnecessary, Edward. I won't change my mind. You know it well._

Yes, I knew it. But maybe if I succeeded in convincing everyone else, they would help me to stop Rosalie while we got that thing out of Bella. I just needed that, that everyone else helped me. To make them see the danger in which my angel was.

Carlisle started speaking.

"Edward, we all know that what worried you the most, son, is Bella. But everything seemed to be going well until now. May we can wait and see how advances her pregnancy. We could then see if is necessary to make her an abort."

_Consider it, son. It's the same that Bella asks you._

They were almost the same words that Bella had used. But I knew her better than all of them, I knew that Bella just told that to convince me to not make something against that monster, but if the pregnancy got worse, she wouldn't accept the abort. She wouldn't care dying for that thing.

"Alice can't see how this will result, Carlisle. I'm not taking that risk."

_You're not taking that risk._ Rosalie told me.

"Of course not, Rosalie. For that reason I can't allow that something might happen to Bella. Please, understand."

"Edward, it's what Bella wants. You have to consider it."

Emmett said, but he was thinking more in that it was what Rosalie wanted. Jasper also agreed with the words of Emmett. At the same time was trying to keep out that situation, he didn't want to be involved into that discussion. He would support what was the best. In those moments, it was Bella's madness.

"Not everything that someone wants is the best. This is not the best, definitely."

"Son, you don't know what is to love a child. I understand that Bella doesn't want to give up her baby. She would never forgive you if you force her to abort _your_ child. Because is yours, too."

"Maybe. But at least Bella would be alive and healthy."

_We don't know if Bella will suffer or if it will be a normal pregnancy. The baby is half human. May it surprises us. We have to wait a little longer._

"You don't understand, do you? En Brazil we met a woman that had heard about this, of a human woman pregnant with a vampire..."

_What?_

I heard the echo of the six voices of my family. They didn't expect what I said.

"Are you sure?" Alice and Carlisle asked.

"You're making that up!" Rosalie insisted in what the only thing that I wanted was to kill the "baby".

"I'm not. They think it's a monster called _Libishomen_, it's a monster that preys exclusively on beautiful woman, Kaure, the woman who I'm talking about, is part from an Indian tribe, Ticuna, they have their own myths and legends, and since she saw she believed that I was that monster. The day we came back, Kaure was in the house, and she realized what was happening, that Bella was pregnant. We were talking, I was trying to find something that gave me hope, some solution, and unfortunately, Kaure said that the only option is death. If not that monster's going to kill Bella." I turned to see every one of the faces from my family, begging for understanding. "The legends say that none of those women survived to the birth." My voice broke at the end.

The silence reigned the room for a long moment.

Their thoughts were full of confusion, horror and fear, now more than ever for Bella. It was my opportunity to try and convinced them to help me.

"Carlisle." Everyone heard the new glimmer of hope saturating my voice. "We can sedate Bella and get that thing out of her. She doesn't have to feel anything."

"Of course not, Edward. I already told you that no one's getting to her."

_You're not going to convince, understand. You're not. The baby will be born._

"Son, it wouldn't be right to choose for Bella."

"It wouldn't let her die either. If she dies, I won't be here to cry over her death."

_Son, no. Don't say that. This has to work out, we have to wait a little longer. Don't give up._

Esme understood what I meant immediately. I knew that if she were able to cry, tears would be falling down her cheeks.

"Are you sure there's no other option, Edward?"

Alice asked me, her voice was so small, full of pain and hopelessness.

"I am, Alice. That woman told me that the only solution was to kill that thing before it killed Bella."

The silence reigned the room again. And then I saw that my words hadn't had the effect that I wanted. Carlisle and Esme insisted that it was Bella's choice, and that she had already done it.

"Well, I thing that everyone knows how is the situation. Still, Edward..." His eyes rest in my face. "I think that we should wait and see how her pregnancy advances, Emmett and Jasper can make some research to know more about her state, maybe they found something that could help us. While we monitored her state, we'll see how this advances and we'll decide according to her state."

"No, we can't wait."

"Enough, Edward. I agree with Carlisle, though there's nothing to decide later."

_There's not. That baby will be born, and it'll have the love that his father refuses to given him. Not that I care about._

It was the last thing I heard, I came out of the room at full speed, frustrated by the result that I had gotten. I couldn't believe it.

I stood outside of the bedroom, and heard at the slight sound that made Alice's footsteps.

_I'm sorry, Edward. I know this wasn't what you wanted._

In that moment she got to my side. She put one of her small hands over my shoulder. I listened her sighing, there was a deep feeling of pain, I understood her perfectly, as she understood me. She maybe was the only member of my family that was at my side. Even when she wouldn't try anything that Bella reproached, like forcing her to abort that monster. I couldn't get angry for her decision, after all I also understood that she felt that.

"Edward... we all know that Bella won't accept your idea even if she was at the verge of dying."

"Don't continue, Alice. Please."

_Sorry._

"Just leave me, I'll be with Bella, okay?"

_Okay. We all will be downstairs, anything you need, just call me._

I nodded with the head, I heard her footsteps and thoughts moving away. I opened the door, I just peeped in to see Bella in the same place where I had left her.

It hadn't been more than six hours after I'd come back at her side when it finished that disastrous meeting with my family, everything had resulted worse than what I'd expected. Everyone wanted to wait and see how this pregnancy advanced and so they made a decision. I knew that all of this wait would be in vain, Bella wouldn't change her mind and while she didn't no one from my family were going to support to get that thing out of Bella. I was completely alone.

Alone with and angel between my arms, that should had been enough to me and it would had been weeks ago, but I was now faced to the terrifying possibility to losing her, I couldn't think that I was not alone, that I had her with me forever. Not when every minute that passed, that thing in her inside were ending with her life. Every second that passed, I saw how her skin was losing its glow, it wasn't a perceptible change for Bella, but I could see it. Bella would see herself in front of a mirror one day and would be surprised because of the change, but I was seeing it happening every minute that the clock ticked.

Her cheeks were losing weight, while her stomach was gaining more. The thing was growing, faster than normal. I hadn't had the chance to talk about that with Carlisle.

I was about to get up and leave Bella sleeping quietly, and go talk with Carlisle about the accelerated growth that showed that thing, when I heard a bump, louder than the ones that I'd heard up to that moment. Bella twisted from the pain, her hands flew towards her stomach and her eyes opened immediately. I saw how they got out of their sockets while her mouth were opening to let out a scream of pain, in that moment she couldn't contain it as she had when we got home. My arms returned immediately around her, holding her, she had sat with the bump, the pain was obvious in her eyes, on each of of the lines of her face. I took one of my hands to her face, I caressed her cheek, while I was asking her.

"Bella? Another kick?"

She could answer me, she was still gasping, she was trying to breath and recover her control. Her hands were still over her stomach, one of them seemed to be caressing her stomach, but what she was doing was massaging the spot where that think had kicked her.

My family had come into the bedroom when they heard the agonizing scream of Bella, they had gotten worried, now they _were_ worried.

_What's wrong? What did you do to her?_ Rosalie was screaming at me when she saw Bella's hands over her stomach. She took a few steps forward and almost were over us.

"Rose, it wasn't Edward. It was the... fetus." Alice tried to calm Rosalie down.

"It better be that way. I'm not allowing you to hurt the baby."

Then Bella put her eyes in my face, they were wet because of the tears that hadn't made their way out, Bella blinked and a few tears fell down her cheeks. Her breathing got controlled, and I heard how she took a big gush of air. One of her hands went to her face and she wiped away the rest of the wetness that the tears had left. Without saying anything, she cuddled up in my arms and surrounded her.

"It was just a kick. Nothing to worry about, really."

_Oh, good, Edward. There are no overreactions in this situation, whatever you do, I'm blaming you until not knowing that you're not guilty._

The words from both of them annoyed me a little. Bella always did the same thing, trying to lie when she knew that if she told me the truth I would overreact in a way that she didn't want to.

"Bella, it wasn't just a kick. Tears came out from your eyes. You screamed from the pain. I saw it in your eyes, so don't try to fool me."

Carlisle walked closer, he wanted to make sure that Bella was fine, that like she said it had been just a kick what had caused her pain. Emmett and Jasper left the room when they saw how the situation didn't need of them. Esme doubted between staying or giving space to care for Bella. She decided to leave.

"Alice? Come with me, we had to let Carlisle check Bella." I saw Alice making a face to what Esme told her, she was worried about Bella, but decided to do as Esme asked her. Bella also did a face, thinking about what would be needed to check on her. While needles weren't involved, she wouldn't refused to anything.

Esme and Alice came out of the room without making any noise, Bella didn't even realize the moment when they left. Her eyes were still on Carlisle, wondering about what was what he would do.

"Bella, are you sure that it was just a kick?" Carlisle asked her.

"That's how I felt." Bella nodded.

_Well, it seems that the fetus's growing rapidly. It seems to have more than twenty centimeters..._

"Carlisle."

His head turned in my direction, I saw in his eyes all the the fright and confusion that I felt reigning in my inside, Bella and Rosalie weren't aware of what Carlisle was thinking, so they didn't show any sign of distress.

_I know, Edward. But I don't know what kind of tests we can do to Bella. The ultrasound was the best we had to see what we're dealing with, but I doesn't work with the membrane surrounding it._

"What we'll do?" My voice was saturated with worry. Hearing my tone, Bella turned to see me.

"What is it? Carlisle?"

"Nothing, nothing, Bella."

"What do you mean nothing? Why did Edward ask you what will you do?"

Of course Bella would miss that.

"The growth of the fetus is very accelerated, we actually don't know what caused it, we don't have a way to know more about it, the ultrasound doesn't work, so..."

The four of us, Rosalie and Carlisle, Bella and I stayed quiet for a moment, trying to process what my father had just said. Rosalie and Bella were the one showing more signs of worry.

Then we heard the stomach of Bella growling, she was hungry, it had been more than forty-eight hours since the last time that Bella had eaten something, or rather, since she had been able to eat something. I was about to ask Bella the same thing that formed in Rosalie's mind.

"Are you hungry, Bella?"

Bella blushed a little, knowing that everyone had heard her stomach. She nodded with her head while she turned to see me.

"Do you think I can eat something now?"

_I think this is the perfect moment to prove your doubts, Edward._

"Why don't you cook something for Bella, son?"

I turned to see him and nodded.

"Sure." My eyes returned to Bella. "What would you want?"

Bella stared at my eyes for a few seconds, pensive. Her answer didn't surprise me as much as it would had if it wasn't because of the fact that it had been her favorite food for the last two weeks.

"Omelet." She bit her lips, her eyes moved away from my mine while the red in her cheeks intensified.

"Right away." I told her, I took one hand to her cheek, caressing it. "Let's go downstairs." I was going to surround her with my arm around her waist, but Rosalie already had her arms behind her pulling her to her side. Protecting her.

_Don't even think about it. Bella's coming with me._

I suppressed the desire that I was feeling to growl from rage, the rage that I was feeling everytime that Rosalie got in my way, that she separated me from Bella's side, I was on my way to hating my least favorite sister, something I never thought would be possible, it didn't matter how shallow her thoughts were, how little she cared about my happiness, with how much selfishness she saw Bella, everything. I would end up hating her more if because of her fault, because of her selfishness, my Bella ended up death.

I dissipated those thoughts in my mind, Bella's death. We got out from Carlisle's office, except but himself.

_I'll be there in a moment, Edward. Go ahead._

He told me while I got out from his office. He wanted to start researching a little more about Bella's pregnancy while we prepared to try and give something to eat to Bella.

Rosalie and Bella were going downstairs, I watched then how they took every step with extremely care, my sister had an arm around Bella's waist, their hands interwined, the hand that Bella had free was over her stomach. She looked more tired, I thought it was because she hadn't eaten anything in so many hours, she hadn't even drunk a single sip of water. Of course she was losing energy rapidly.

Both of them started walking towards the living room, where Esme and Alice were, I walked towards the kitchen, I saw from the eyes of my sisters and mom how Bella turned to see behind her, looking for me.

"Edward?" I heard her asking for me.

I turned quickly back to see her and to assure her that I was just going to the kitchen to prepare her something to eat.

"Don't worry, love. I'm just going to the kitchen, and I'll be back."

Her face relaxed lightly. She nodded and turned her face to the front. They kept walking, and I saw how Alice and Esme gave some space to Bella so she could sit in the couch. I walked to the kitchen and heard how my favorite sister raised and came after me.

_Can I help you, if you want?_

I had never felt so much uncertainty from Alice. She had asked me instead of just saying me that she had seen she would help me.

"Why do you have to ask?"

_It seems as if now we all were like those dogs from La Push._

There was a tiny tone of contempt in her words, but it was stronger the bother that it caused her.

"What do you mean?"

"Since Bella decided to keep the... fetus, I can't see anything, and since all of us are involved with her decision, everything disappeared. And I don't know why!"

I stayed quiet for a moment, I had noticed that Alice hadn't seen anything about Bella's pregnancy and that she didn't know how it would end, but that she couldn't see anything about this, surprised me.

Alice was so annoyed by her lack of vision, that I saw how she was changing the subject.

"What are we cooking for Bella?"

"As if you hadn't heard."

Her laugh sounded like bells. A little deafening for my ears and my family's, but Bella didn't even know what was happening in the kitchen.

"Right. Omelet. Let's do it!" Her face fell a little, remembering that she didn't have any idea of how to cook anything. "You know hot to cook it, don't you? Because I don't."

Now it was my laugh which was heard for half a second before remembering what we were going to cook for. That thing had prevented Bella from being able to eat as she should, or that was how I thought it was. We'll find out.

I told Alice the list of ingredients that we needed, she immediately went to retrieve them while I was getting the frying pan and everything we needed to cook.

Alice was at my side in less than two seconds. She stood at my side with the ingredients and a big smile on her face.

_Is this everything that we need?_

"Yes, Alice. This' everything. Shall we?"

_Yep._ She told me while giving little jumps of emotion. It was the first time that Alice would try to cook.

I told her again rapidly the recipe to cook the omelet. Alice listened with faked attention, even if she would have been jumping and running around the entire kitchen, she would have listened perfectly my words. She insisted me in letting her cook to her, I gave up, and got to prepare a juice.

Alice started to prepare the ingredients, while I kept at her side, watching and making sure that she was doing it correctly. Of course it was unnecessary my presence, her memory didn't fail and she made everything that I'd told her at the perfection. All the time was a line formed in her forehead, sign that she was completely focus in getting right the food. She couldn't see if Bella would like it or if she would burn something, though I wasn't possible, I had told her how many time it had to be in the fire. There was no margin of error.

After a few minutes, she turned to see and there was doubt in her eyes.

_Did I do it good?_

"I think you did, Alice. You made everything as I did it, and Bella liked it."

She smiled before answering me. "Great."

She put the omelet over a plate that I had set at her side, she then put it over a tray where was the orange juice I had made, and other one with water.

"Do you thing she wants milk, too?"

Rosalie heard me and immediately asked Bella who answered that she did, whatever it was, she didn't care, she was starving.

_You heard, Edward._

"I think she just answered us." She told me with another smile, but it was more comprehensible, a little of frustration by Rosalie's attitude.

Carlisle had been listening to everything, he came out of his office at the same time that Alice and I came out from the kitchen. We encountered when he was downstairs. Alice who was holding the tray in her hands, went ahead.

"Are you ready for the test, Edward? Let's hope it'd been just nauseas from the pregnancy."

"Something says me they weren't, Carlisle." I sighed, and shook my head. "Let's go."

When Bella was at my sight, Alice had already gotten to her side, she had set the tray with the food on the table that was in front of the couch. Bella had her nose wrinkled, and a hand over her mouth, but it didn't seem that was going to throw up. Not yet.

_It seems that it smells badly._

Were thinking everyone.

We got to her side, and stood in front of the table. Bella was looking at the food with hunger, but at the same time there was some of reluctance between trying it or not.

"Bella, could you try and taste the food?"

She turned to see Carlisle with her eyes full of incredulity, as if she didn't believe what my father had just asked her.

Her eyes went back to the tray with the food, she sighed a big gush of air, as if getting ready to try something disgusting. It reminded me the face we made when we were forced to try human food, practicing in case we had to do it in front of humans.

Bella closed her eyes for a few seconds. A doubt crossed my mind while Bella decided to try the food, Rosalie hadn't bothered me with her stupid doubts and questions about what I did, I then remembered that Alice had cooked the food and that Rosalie had listened to everything. It surprised me that she hadn't objected and demanded in being present while we were cooking for Bella.

"What is it, Bella?"

I asked her when her eyes didn't open, her hands were over her stomach. Slowly they were opening, and there was torture in them. She didn't want to do it.

"It smells wrong."

Alice's face fell, thinking that maybe there was something bad or she had done something bad.

Esme intervened.

"But the food is just bought. When we knew you were coming we went shopping, Bella."

_Then I did something bad, Edward._

"Try it, Bella. We had to know if it just smells bad or if it tastes bad."

Bella nodded, not very convinced. But she knew she had to do it.

She took a fork, her hand stayed over her stomach. She cut a bite, and took it to her mouth, all the time, her nose kept wrinkled, and with every inch that she took it closer to her mouth, it got more pronounced. She swallowed loudly before getting that bite into her mouth. It was torture to see her suffering that way. She shewed it slowly, and swallowed forcefully.

_It seems to be okay._

"How did it taste to you, Bella?" Carlisle asked her.

Bella's eyes almost got out of their sockets, she started to breath faster, with difficulty. I recognized her expression. Her hand went to her mouth, and I hadn't realized that someone had brought a bowl in case Bella needed it.

"Rose!" My sister, knowing what Bella meant, got down to take the bowl quickly. She put under Bella's face. And what I feared happened. Everything she had swallowed she threw it up. Her face was wet with sweat, in spite of the fact that the weather wasn't hot. She took the glass with water that it was on the tray, she took a sip to wash her mouth, and threw the liquid into the same bowl. She put back on th tray the glass and turned to see us.

"I'm sorry."

"How did it taste, Bella?" Carlisle asked.

She wiped her hand over her mouth, despite there was nothing to wipe.

"Very off. Like it was rotten."

_It's not possible, Edward. Everything in the kitchen has just been bought two days ago._

"Bella, try and drink some of these liquids."

She sighed again, as if she was forced to go through the same again. Bella had even rejected the water the last day. I didn't know if it was going to happen again, though I was afraid it was, seeing what had happened with the food.

She stretched her hand to take of the glasses that were on the tray. She took the one with milk.

_If this doesn't work, we'll have to feed her intravenously._

Bella hated needles, but if it wasn't other way...

She took the glass to her mouth, the same expression she had had before, her nose wrinkled because of the smell coming out from the glass. A sip from the white liquid fell into her mouth, and swallowed it. It didn't pass so long as with the food, the liquid came back immediately. Rosalie already had the bowl in front of Bella. Everything fell into it again. This didn't seem very good.

"Same?" Carlisle asked again. His face was showing some signs of anxiety. His thoughts were worried by what was happening.

Bella took a gush of air, and wiped her hand over her forehead, the drops of sweat were falling without stopping.

"Same, everything smells the same. As if it was rotten." Her eyes returned to my face. They were tired, she hadn't been able to sleep enough time.

"I think you need to sleep, Bella." I told her, and turned to see Carlisle. "We can try it again tomorrow?"

Bella sighed when she heard my words.

_I don't see that's necessary, but we can if you feel better._

"It's not necessary for you to taste the food, Bella. If it has the same smell again, it means that your body is rejecting it."

It was obvious the change on her factions. The words of Carlisle relaxed her and calmed her anxiety. It seemed that it made her more ill.

I walked around the table to help her getting up and took her to the bedroom. Rosalie immediately growled at me when she was that I was trying to do. She raised and closed my way.

"Get out of the way, before I..."

"Before what?"

_Don't you dare touching me, Edward._

"Rose, Edward, please. Don't fight." Her breathing had gotten faster as her heartbeats. Carlisle walked closer from the other side, and in that moment as much Rosalie and I put our eyes on him.

Carlisle put a hand over Bella's forehead.

_She's boiling._

"Bella, are you feeling sick?"

"Just tired, and truthfully, I'm very cold. Why?"

"Cold, love? If you're boiling in fever."

"I am?"

"Let's go, I'll take you to our bedroom to rest."

_No, you won't._

Rosalie, again.

"Enough, Rosalie. Bella was already with me in the bedroom and happened nothing. I won't do anything against her while she refused, I'm not going to force her."

With those words it seemed to be enough for Rosalie who got out of the way and let pass. Bella stretched her arms towards myself quickly with a little smile on her lips. Her arms interwined behind my neck when I had her between mine.

We went upstairs to our bedroom at a human pace again, Bella had requested it. She wanted me to take care, with the fetus.

As soon as she was on the bed, Bella had closed her eyes, and fallen asleep. The same as the last time, she awoke again because of the thing, another bump had made her feel the same or almost the same pain she had felt a few hours ago. Everytime that it happened the same, I felt how my heart was being tearing apart, seeing her suffering, and hearing how a gasp was coming out of her lips.

…

Days passed and everything was still getting worse, we had more than a week back in Forks, Bella hadn't been able to try a bite since more than ten days ago. Her face had lost almost all of its weight, her skin seemed to be glued to her bones, the glow in her hair and her skin had disappeared, it was as if everything that was alive in her body it had been absorbed by that thing that was still growing without stopping. Of course it was that, like that woman had said, that thing would end up killing her, it was taking away every sign of life that was in her body.

Every passing day hadn't passed without receiving kicks or whatever it was that did that monster inside of her, Bella's stomach had grown almost twice its size, she had almost thirty centimeters, and I didn't want to imagine the size of that thing. All her stomach was covered with black spots, bruises, worse than the ones I had caused her. Just as its father, I thought. I couldn't help it. Everytime that thing caused a scream of pain to come out of Bella, or a moan, that was what she had been doing Bella during the last days, just moaning, or complaining slightly, trying to pass it off as something light, something that it shouldn't be take seriously. But I saw it in her eyes, it as deeper that what she let see, she always insisted that it wasn't the _baby's_ fault, that it was her who was the weak one, that the fetus needed more space, she always had a stupid excuse. I knew it wasn't like that.

After a few day, Carlisle had been forced to get needles into Bella, he had brought all the necessary equipment to attend Bella, it was on the living room, all the furniture had been got out from there, to give some space for the equipment that Bella needed, we had tried to feed her intravenously, but all the got into her system was simply rejected. Bella was dying, painfully. I was dying at her side. Since the moment in which her body had started losing weight, when it wasn't possible for her anymore to move without Rosalie's help, who didn't let anyone to come close to help her, not even me, my happiness or hope, had disappeared completely, there was no life inside of me, I didn't have reasons to smile anymore, not even when Bella tried to cheer me up, I couldn't force my lips to twist an inch.

Since it had been necessary to get those needles into Bella, Rosalie and I had stopped arguing, it was useless, and the stress that caused her when she saw us fighting made her more ill. Bella had refused completely to get that thing out of her her, as much as I had asked her, begged her to do what Carlisle asked her, Bella refused and insisted that she was strong enough to resist the time missing, and Rosalie was always there at her side, feeding her insanity, convincing her that everything would end up fine, that she would make sure that everything went well in the birth, but never, not even once, in her mind crossed the image of Bella with that in her arms, it was who had it. It was everything she care about, to that thing to be born.

Every second that passed, my mind was full of ideas, searching for more ideas to save her, none of them seemed very promising. I had even tried to give her the divorce and that she remade her life with someone else, she would be mom someday and wouldn't die trying.

"Bella, I would give you the divorce, you could start again, having children without being dying."

Her eyes had widened with the surprise, it was a barely perceptible change, her state had been going worse so much. Her breathing had gone faster.

"What? What are you talking about? I don't want another child, I want _our_ child. So don't say that ever again! I don't want anyone else but you."

Her words wouldn't make me happy, they didn't cause me a smile as it would have been in other situation. Bella was dying before my eyes and I couldn't do anything. That thing wasn't happy without hitting her, it had even broken one of her ribs now, causing her to struggle to be able to breath, her heart had weakened so much that I barely recognized her heartbeats, they weren't the vital and full of life beats that I had loved so much once to hear. I was almost afraid now, I felt as if at any moment her heart would stop beating, that it would be too much for it. Still Bella didn't want to give up, she wouldn't give up to that monster.

If sometime I had thought that before I met Bella, my existence had been full of emptiness, that I hadn't felt with her, now it was worse. To presence how everyday that thing hurt her, took away her life, it was leaving her empty, at some point it would be too much and Bella wouldn't bear it.

She had wanted to convince us that everything would work out well, that we would inject the necessary venom in her body when the time came, that if Esme had made, she would too. That she was strong enough to hold on. I knew she was wrong, I had read in Carlisle's mind how much it worried him that her plan wouldn't work, even though he had seen how the venom made miracles, with Esme and Emmett principally, Rosalie and I weren't in such a bad state when he decided to change us, he was thinking that maybe Bella's heart was too weak, that it wouldn't bear the change.

That frightened me tremendously.

I had to do something, someone had to know some way to save her, to make her change her mind. I had to think well, I knew there was some solution that was escaping me. Someone that could give Bella what she wanted without killing her.

If he couldn't, I was lost.

The last thing that I felt was like the darkness was taking me into that hole of suffering in which I had felt falling since everything started.

I was dying at her side. Always at her side.

* * *

**I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO UPLOAD THE NEXT CHAPTERS, I HOPE IT WON'T TAKE ME AS LONG AS IT TOOK ME WITH THESE!**


	10. Chapter 9, NEW CHANCE

**Hi guys! So sorry… again, that it took me so long to upload. Well, but it's here the chapter, NEW CHANCE, it's getting me trouble to come up with a title for these chapters, I hope I'm getting them right.**

**Well, the next one, I'm uploading it right not, so don't worry, you get to read two chapters this time, and I think this way is going to be from now on, though it's not the first time I upload two instead of one chapter.**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

**Hope you like it, and especially, enjoy reading.**

Chapter 9. NEW CHANCE

I didn't know how I would do it, but I had to do it some way. It had to work, I'd spent days thinking that he was our only hope, that he was the only that could save Bella, to get her out of that suffering, of that ordeal in which I had put her in. he had to be the persona who could make Bella happy in a healthy way, without all of this that was hurting her instead of making her happy, of having a life as any other people, full of happiness and love without being dying.

If he couldn't convince her from her mistake, no one would.

The problem was how to find him. I was sure that if I called to his house, I would have an answer but he wouldn't listen to me. If I went to look for him, the pack of wolves would attack me. I couldn't be too long away from Bella, her state was deteriorating so fast that it scared me. It wasn't allowed by her nor by myself to be away from her, I felt that reason had abandoned me, I was willing to do anything for saving her life, anything.

Never in my life I had felt so tired, never in my life I had felt the need to close my eyes and sleep, to walk away from reality for just a few minutes at least, I had never felt that at any moment I would need to be committed to an insane asylum, I was becoming crazy, slowly all my reason, my life, my wishes, my feelings, everything were slowly disappearing, at the same time that Bella was escaping from me, her heart was so weak, her legs didn't hold anymore her fragile body, her bones seemed about to tear open through the fine layer of skin that was covering her, the smell of the blood that I once had loved so much was almost gone from her system, her breathing wasn't those soft whispers that I listened with so much concentration anymore, hearing how alive she was.

Everything was being snatched by that heartless, soulless monster that was inside of her.

How could Bella love it?

How could she ask me to love it, when it was killing my only reason to exist?

In those moments, we all were in the same room in which we had been for the last two weeks next to Bella, who was laid down on that couch, her body was in a fetal position, her hands, as usual, were over her stomach, her lungs and her heart were working forcefully, they were barely a whisper among all that silence surrounding us.

Around me all I could hear it was a buzzing, my family had been so focused on Bella, that they rarely thought about anything, it was as if all of their thoughts had been erased, in that moment it was like that. When that thing moved and I heard another bump inside of her body, Bella writhed a little bit, he pressed her hands over her stomach, her expression was so controlled, so used to the bumps, that it was hard for me to tell if it really hurt her yet, or if it was something usual now. Didn't matter, I knew that it hurt her.

Everytime that I saw a new bruise over her stomach, everytime that the pain crossed her eyes, everytime that her hands flew to her stomach in a sudden move, everytime that I hear that damn noise, the bumps that that monster inflicted on my Bella, I fell deeper into that hole, it was as if I was burning, as if I was tied and chained with every one of my sins at the fire, I was paying in the worst way for my mistakes, Bella shouldn't have been suffering because of my weakness, because of my selfishness, because I hadn't let her go when she the opportunity.

But I couldn't give up, her heart was still beating, there was still a little ray of hope at the end of this darkness that was surrounding me, that everytime was dragging me into the depths even more. I had to hold on to that light, I had to get to it. I had to save Bella.

The ring from the telephone ringing for the tenth time in the day brought me back for a moment. Carlisle moved in a second next to the telephone, my eyes never moved from Bella, who had turned her eyes to Carlisle. My father didn't even take the telephone. I heard him sighing before coming back next to Esme.

_Charlie again. I don't know what we can tell him to calm him._

"My father again?" The voice that came out from her lips was barely recognizable to that high and clear voice that was before... all of this. It was creak and low, it was barely audible.

Carlisle sighed again, and nodded with his head.

Emmett and Jasper were on Carlisle's office, trying to research something more about this, and to be able to help us know more, to help Bella. They hadn't had luck, but neither gave up.

Bella had gotten worse in the last hours, and as much as I begged her to stop with that suffer, she refused. She wouldn't accept to get that thing out of her stomach. She would first rather die before my own eyes.

_Edward? What are we going to do with Charlie?_

I didn't even raise my eyes to see Carlisle. I just shrugged, and didn't continue with that subject.

Bella interrupted my thoughts.

"Couldn't I talk with my father?"

I shook my head. Of course she couldn't. What was she going to tell him? I'm fine? I'll get better soon?

"Why not, Edward?"

I closed my eyes, and fell in my kneels in front of her. I heard Bella sobbing when she saw my reaction. In that precise moment I regretted that I hadn't been stronger and bore the pain that caused to think that Bella was dying, the stress made her ill, and I heard her breathing getting faster.

"Relax, Bella." Rosalie asked her. "Remember that this isn't good for the baby."

Bella struggled a little trying to recover the control over her breathing. She made it slowly.

_You're an idiot, Edward. The stress makes her ill, too._

My eyes opened and I saw that Bella was calmer. She smiled a little, and took one of her hands to my cheek. She was comforting me. I was sure that her brain didn't work correctly.

"Bella, your only job is to be calm."

"But it's my dad. He's suffering, he just wants to talk to me. Please?" It had been a while since those words didn't have the same force that before. I didn't know if they had more force, to seeing her in that state, so weak and even more vulnerable that usual, and if that same thing made me not want to give her what she wanted. That only caused damage.

Carlisle saw that I wasn't going to be able to answer, so he did it in my place.

"Bella, we know that. But it's not a good idea for you to talk to Charlie. Not in this moment."

She listened to him attentively, as if she had been waiting that Carlisle were about to give her better news. Her face fell a little, disappointed for what she had listened.

The silence reigned in the house for a few minutes.

Rosalie was still beside Bella, in a protective way, making sure nobody came closer to her and could do something to her or the fetus.

Alice was talking downheartedly with Esme, the two of them were standing behind the couch where Bella had been laid for the last few days. Her voices were barely audible for the weak and human ears of Bella.

Jasper and Emmett were still upstairs, trying to deciphering some of the myths and legends about the situation of Bella so we could know more.

Carlisle and Bella had their eyes put on my eyes. I felt the look of Bella almost burning a hole in my face, and I could hear the worry of Carlisle. By my state. What state? I wondered everytime that I listened to the thoughts of my family, except for Rosalie, of course. The sick one was Bella not me, and they dared to worry about me. When they knew why she was that way, when they knew that they hadn't supported me.

Of course I couldn't blame them. I could never blame anyone else but me for what was happening to Bella, everything was because of me. One thing was that my family supported her in this madness to keeping that monster inside of her, and another very different thing was that they had put it there.

Minutes passed, and my eyes kept closed, I was trying very hard to not listening to what my family were thinking, the pain that was inflicted in them for seeing me in that state.

But how could I felt? It was hardly happiness that I was going to be a father when Bella wouldn't be at my side in this world to share it with me, and it was much more than sadness or pain what I felt wasn't leaving me anymore in the past days, it was something so powerful that I couldn't hide, that any look resting on my face could see what I was suffering, but they had no idea anyway. I doubted that any person in the history of humanity would have felt sometime, even just half the pain that I was feeling. It consumed me from inside out, it burned me, everything that I felt were ashes, the remains of what I once was, of what I once could've been. I was nothing. I was stone, lifeless, dying everyday more.

The only thing that kept me on my foot, or existing, was the reason that Bella needed me at her side, she would need until the last moment in which her heart beat, until the last moment in which her chocolate brown eyes saw mine, until the last moment in which her blood ran through her veins. She would have me there, at her side, seeing her escaping from my side to go to a place where her soul and body would finally rest, in a place where I wouldn't be able to hurt her more with my love. It was everything that I'd given her.

How could I believe that we had a chance to being happy, if just by loving her I was killing her?

I felt that at any moment, it would also be too much for me and I wouldn't be able to keep at her side until the end. No, I told myself, you've got to hold on, be strong for her. You owe her at least that much.

Without realizing, a moan of pain came out my lips. I felt Bella's hand resting over my cheek and softly stroking it. I enjoyed her touch, though I perfectly knew that I shouldn't, she still worried that I was suffering.

Her hand went to my hair, and I had to open my eyes.

Tears were beginning to fall down her cheeks. "Everything's going to be fine, Edward. I'm never leaving you, neither you nor our baby."

There was nothing left in me that could be called or seemed to faith. There was nothing in my that made me believe that Bella was right. That her eyes were going to keep looking into mine for the rest of eternity as we had once dreamed.

I felt like screaming, yelling at the cruel faith that had put us into this path, that let Bella out of my punishment, to leave her, to take her out of my way and that she were happy, that it sent me straight to hell to burn for the rest of eternity if just Bella could be the same human girl that I fell in love with. So healthy and unaware of this world full of horrors. Everything was in vain, every day sun would rise again and the moon would be seen among all the stars again, and this angel kept suffering because of my fault.

"Bella, please." I begged her for who knows how many times so far. Rosalie growled immediately, and got knelt down behind Bella. Her hands went to her face.

"Don't listen to him, Bella. Everything's going to be fine, I promised you."

_Don't try, Edward. Bella and I aren't giving up._

Bella heard with attention to Rosalie's words, and returned her look at my face.

"I know, Rose." She told her while looking at me. "Everything's going to be fine." It seemed that her words were directed to every one of the members of my family.

Bella began trying to close her eyes, she was tired, under them were big shadows, they were almost as dark as the ones from my family. It just passed a few seconds to start listening to a soft snore coming from her lips half parted. She wasn't able to sleep like she should, that thing didn't let her sleep, and as if it knew the Bella was peacefully asleep, having a little rest, that thing decided that it was too much good for Bella to enjoy it.

We heard the bump she received, and gush of air came out of her mouth, as if she had received a punch in her stomach, outside not inside from where it really came. She didn't even bother screaming anymore, she had learned to hide the pain, but her eyes didn't lie. My hands flew towards her, but Rosalie get in the middle, hissing.

_Stay away from her._

Bella started gasping, her hand were still over her stomach, rubbing the place where that monster had beaten her, I could see a new bruise appearing slowly. When she saw that my eyes were in the place where it had hurt her, Bella hid it with the fabric of her sweater.

"I'm fine. He's growing so much. Poor boy, doesn't have enough space." Her eyes left mine. If my eyes could've shed tears, they would've been falling down my cheeks, or maybe I couldn't cry anymore, I would be dry inside, dead.

"Do you want something, Bella?" Rosalie asked. Bella shook her head, and didn't try to close her eyes again. As if she was afraid of that happening again.

Everybody had returned to doing what they were doing before. It was then when I heard it, that everybody except for Bella did. The noise of tires over the dirt path that came to our house. Everybody turned their eyes towards the big glass wall looking at the front lawn.

The speed with which was advancing the vehicle, that now we realized it was a motorcycle, it was heard just two tires over the road, it slowed down radically.

Jacob Black.

The hope that I'd been feeling to come with his presence, didn't come. I heard his thoughts, he came to fight, to kill me was more precise. He didn't know how he would do it but his plan was forming, I would delightedly let him kill me, I deserved it, but Bella wouldn't stand the pain, though I deserved dying for what I had done to her, I knew Bella would bear it.

Jacob didn't have any idea of what he would see, I thought that Bella was one of us already, that we already had broken the treaty we had. He was terribly mistaken.

But that wasn't what bothered me, but that he came to not just killing me, but my family too. I would never allow that. But he was alone, was it possible that he believed he could against my family alone? Sam had asked him to stay away, that there were no proof that the treaty had been broken from our side, though Jacob was sure that it had, he came to check and to get paid the supposedly debt.

When we heard the motorcycle coming into the lawn at the front of the house, we all were capable of smelling perfectly the unbearable smell coming from him.

_Agh. What's that? Don't tell me that..._

_Is it that that dog dared coming alone?_

_Edward?_

Emmett and Jasper had come downstairs as soon as they heard the motorcycle coming into the lawn. Everyone were talking in such a low voice that it was impossible for Bella to hear any whisper.

"It's Jacob. He thinks we've broken the treaty."

"What?"

"He thinks that Bella's already one of us, a vampire."

_Oh!_

"But he's coming alone." Esme said. Worried about what Jacob was planning to do. If she knew that he was planning to kill at so many members of the family as it was possible for him...

"Edward, what do we do?"

"Nothing. He's coming for me, not for you."

_We're not leaving you alone, brother._

"What do we do, Carlisle?" Alice asked, tense. Nobody knew what to do.

"Don't dare that stinking dog to near our place!" Rosalie growled, her tone was so loud that was enough for Bella to hear it.

Her head snapped at her and then at me.

"Jacob's here?" In her tone there was some of worry, but there was also some of joy barely perceptible. My family didn't notice it, but I knew it very well when it was about him.

"I think is best that I speak with him, Edward. It's not the best time for visiting."

"But..."

"Bella, please." I told her, interrupting her. "It's the best, yes. Though I doubt you'll convince him, Carlisle. He come decided to fighting with me." I whispered so low the last part that Bella didn't have a chance to hear me.

_I'll do the much I can to not let him know about this, son._

Jacob had already cut off the engine of his motorcycle, and were nearing to the door.

"I'll be right back."

The six of us had stood in front of the couch where Bella was laid. She hadn't said another word since then, and we waited to hear how Carlisle did it with Jacob.

I listened to the sound of the air when he raised one of his arms so he could knock on the door. Carlisle opened before his hand touched it.

I read every one of his thoughts, he had gotten impressed by the face that Carlisle was showing.

"Hello, Jacob." He was thinking that Carlisle should've shown another face, show more worry by his presence that what it seemed. In those moments we had anything to be afraid of. "How are you?"

Jacob took a big gush of air through his mouth, I could see and hear it from Carlisle. The smell surrounding the house was barely bearable for his nose. I then heard that he was disappointed that it had been my father instead of me, ready to fight. After all he was grateful with what Carlisle had done for him during the last spring when those newborns had broken half his bones.

"I heard Bella made it back alive."

His voice was heard up the where we were, even Bella could hear him. In her eyes I saw a ray of light that I hadn't seen before, she wished she could see him. After all this time, she still loved him, maybe it wasn't a bad idea to let him come in. I could speak with him and try convince him to speak with Bella and so he could save her.

"Er, Jacob, it's not really the best time." My father answered him, thinking about the state in which Bella was. Jacob noticed the difference. He realized that Carlisle wasn't mad or uncomfortable as he thought he would knowing that he was there to kill us. "Could we do this later?"

Jacob had gotten shocked with the choice of words of Carlisle. _Was he asking to post-pone the death match for a more convenient time?_

"Why not?" Bella interrupted, and immediately Jacob's attention focused on her voice. "Are we keeping secrets from Jacob, too? What's the point?" Bella asked me.

It exasperated me that she wanted him so much in her life. But I would give her what she wanted, it was my chance to saving her.

The thoughts of Jacob had gone to that day in which we fought against the newborns, the voice he had heard from Bella wasn't what he was expecting. He was trying to remember how it was supposed to sound the voice of a newborn vampire. It wasn't nothing similar to what he knew.

Of course it wasn't that way, Bella wasn't still a vampire. And I didn't know if she would get to be.

"Come in, please, Jacob." Bella could barely say, but Jacob's hearing was so sensitive as ours.

"Let him." I whispered so low to my father, who quickly got tense. Remembering what I had told him, that he came to kill me.

_Are you sure, son?_ He asked me worried.

"Yes." Those both simple words had come out of my mouth, they were so low that not even Jacob heard them. His thoughts were so focused on Bella, that everything else had disappeared. The next thing would've made me laugh if it wasn't because of the tense of situation, he kept believing that Bella was already a vampire, and was wondering is she was thirsted of blood. As if his blood were someway something we wanted to try.

"Excuse me." Jacob told Carlisle while walked next to him.

I heard how it cost him a hard work had given his back to my father, as if he was letting him escape, to the natural enemy he should kill. It wasn't that hard, there was a great human part on him that we didn't, he was generous, and felt that the only good vampire that he was capable of not killing and would try to not do it if possible during the fight was Carlisle.

The first thing that Jacob noted when he came into the house, was the difference between that unique occasion in which he had seen the crypt of the Cullens as he called it, when he was here last spring, our house had been done up like a night club, it was a graduation party what was being celebrated, and now everything was free of colors, he could appreciate all the light colors from the walls and nothing obstructed the view inside the house. His eyes searched rapidly for the place where we all were, the place where he had heard Bella telling him to come in and see her.

When his eyes rest on my family and me, we were standing next to the couch where was laid down. My eyes never left her figure. I could see everything from seven different angles, from my family and now from Jacob's eyes. I looked from my family's eyes, how Jacob stopped midway, when his eyes saw my look, his mouth fell open.

It was like being in purgatory, suffering from a new perspective what was really happening, my family always tried to think positively about everything that was happening, but with Jacob I would hear the pure truth, no filters.

He was the only one up to that moment, that understood better or let me see that he understood my suffering, he compared my expression with the ones in other occasions.

_Angry, arrogant, pain._

He was right, this was beyond of what it was the agony, I wasn't even sure that there were some pain as powerful as this, but I felt it.

My eyes never raised to see him, or to glare at him as he thought I would, there was nothing left in my fury to share or to feel towards someone else that it wasn't myself. His look followed mine, when my eyes didn't look at him, I couldn't take my eyes off of Bella. I was watching every one of her expressions, searching for something that told me that the plan forming in my mind could work out. I didn't have much hope, because Bella was happy to see him, but it wasn't what I was expecting, it wasn't enough to make me believe that Jacob had a chance to getting what I couldn't.

I heard how he thought, that he couldn't enjoy from my agony. There was just one thing in the world that could take me to that state. Bella. His eyes went to the same place where mine were. I read how his thoughts registered the image of Bella at the same time that her smell, still human.

I could see Bella from his eyes, my family's were watching every step that Jacob took or on me. He was happy to see that Bella was still the same, or he believed that, in his happiness to seeing that she was still human hadn't seen what was really in front of his eyes, her thin and fragile figure over the couch. He looked at the beautiful color of her still human skin and her chocolate brown eyes. He was wondering if it was some dream from which he was going to wake up at any moment. I wish it was, I thought. I'd wished it so many times in the last weeks, so much that sometimes I thought that if I closed my eyes and opened them everything would be back life before, she would be again the woman that I loved so much.

It just passed a second for Jacob to notice it, to actually look the state in which Bella was.

I had to endure seeing from another look the horror that I had caused to my angel, the pain in which she was all because of my fault. Really see it, as he was seeing it. There were no lies in his mind, he was my real witness.

His eyes looked over the big shadows that were now permanently drawn under her eyes, thinking about they stood up because of the big circles surrounding her eyes. His look focused on the skin of her face that barely covered her, it seemed that it was about to break through. Her hair tied to the part behind her head, and a few loose strands that were glued with the sweat running over her face and neck. His look made it to her fingers and wrists, thinking that there was something that scared you at seeing how fragile they looked.

It was like a nightmare to see and listen without lies how Bella looked in truth. Though I wouldn't have needed to see it through him, I knew all of that. Still was difficult.

He thought that what Charlie had told his father, Billy, had been true, that Bella was really sick, much more than sick. But it was a lie, this was worse that an illness, it was a story, it was a lie, all my fault. The pain got more intense.

_Edward? Everything fine with Jacob?_

Carlisle asked me, but I didn't have the strength nor the enough energy to move not even an inch. I was still focused in Jacob's thoughts.

While he kept looking at Bella, I saw from his eyes and mine how Bella's face turned green. And I knew what was coming, that expression was so common that I almost hated it. That monster was killing her.

Rosalie realized that Bella needed her help. I wasn't even able to move, I knew what was going to happen and that Rosalie wouldn't allow me to do anything for my Bella. She approached Bella, and bent down to hear what Bella had to ask her, though she already knew what it was. Rosalie bent towards her face as if she couldn't hear well if she didn't. Bella whispered what she needed.

Jacob was confused. Thinking about what was odd in the situation, in how odd was to see Rosalie helping Bella, when we all knew how much Bella had once been afraid of my sister, and now they seemed sister or something similar. There was no fear, there was trust. Something that had never existed before. He noticed it, though Bella had never told him, he had noticed in her expressions, in the features of her face everytime she talked about my sister. He knew her so well, in a way that I didn't understand how was it possible, he knew her better that what I thought I knew the lines of her face when her eyes told me what her mind didn't allow me to see. My plan might worked.

Bella turned to see Rosalie, through her eyes crossed a little shame for what was going to happen, my sister recognized her expression, she gave her a little smile before bending down and retrieving the basin from the floor, she put it under Bella's face in the precise moment in which Bella vomited nothing, nothing she had been able to eat in weeks, I didn't what was that made her sick, what was what her system rejected, but it made her more sick every passing minute. And I couldn't do anything, anything to save her, I saw her suffering in front of my eyes, writhing with pain, nothing of what we did, or we tried to help Bella worked.

What had this angel done to deserve that suffering? Just loving a monster, and now were two.

I felt how I lost the control over myself again, my knees lost their strength and I felt falling down on them next to Bella. There had to be something that I could do, anything.

_Keep away, Edward. I've told you to not touch her, I can take care of her._

Rosalie told me while she put a hand of hers in front of me, preventing me for nearing Bella and do something for her.

Jacob was even more confused. He didn't understand what he was seeing in front of his eyes.

Bella still had her head bent down, she hadn't recover enough strength to raise. Jacob put his eyes again on her when her head finally raised. Her eyes went to Jacob, she smiles, ashamed for what he had to see.

"Sorry about that."

How could she worry about everyone except herself? That thing had put her like this, if she had thought about herself and not that thing, or in me as she argued, she would be healthy and strong, alive.

I heard a moan of pain coming out of my lips, I wasn't conscious of what I did when it attacked me the darkness, I lost all my senses, Bella noticed it, from different looks I saw how her hand barely raised and she put her over my cheek. She was comforting me as she always did when she saw me like this. Only she gave me strength to keep at her side.

I saw the image of Bella closing distance to him, he was walking towards where we all were around her at the couch. Rosalie didn't like it at all, I listened at her hissing when Jacob was walking closer, but he wasn't completely conscious of what was around him, he ignored her completely.

"Rose, don't." Bella barely sighed. Her voice was so weak, as all of her. "It's fine."

_Agh, does she have to want this dog to be around?_

Rosalie got out the way, letting Jacob to walk closer to Bella. He noticed that my sister wasn't happy at all at doing it, everyone noticed. Rosalie moved at Bella's side without taking off her look on Jacob, warning him to not do anything from which he could regret. She stayed on her feet, her muscles tensed, ready to fall upon him and attack Jacob at any moment. He continued ignoring her presence. Everyone's presence, he just saw Bella.

"Bella, what's wrong?" I was hearing all of his thoughts. I didn't need to turn and see him to be able to listen at him. Jacob got on his knees, apparently he wasn't conscious of his acts, that was what I read in his mind. He was in front of me, leaning against the back of the couch, his eyes barely saw my face again, all he saw was Bella, and she him. His hand stretched, and reached to take between his hands to Bella's hand, her skin was so cold as ours. "Are you all right?"

I agreed with his thought, it was almost stupid to ask if she was all right when he was looking at her barely able to talk laying down a couch. Of course she wasn't all right, he realized the same thing after he asked. Bella ignored his question.

"I'm so glad you came to see me today, Jacob."

Her wish came true. I had seen it in her eyes when she listened at the voice outside of the house, before he came in.

Another moan escaped my mouth, my face was buried into the blanket that covered her body, I saw her hand coming to cheek and stroked it again. I was sick to feeling that Bella worried more about me than for herself.

I came back to reality, perhaps her wish would help me to save her. Jacob wondered if there was another meaning behind her words that he hadn't heard when I moaned because of her words. He didn't know what I had seen in her eyes, nor what I was planning to do.

"What is it, Bella?" Jacob asked again, he still hadn't had his answer, and he didn't what was the so dangerous illness that Charlie had talked about. From his eyes I saw how Bella turned to see around my family, looking for Rosalie, I was sure that she was going to show him the reason of her state instead of trying to explain it. She looked with her look over every member of my family, which looked at her anxiously, without knowing what she needed and who she needed it from. At the end her eyes found Rosalie's, and in her eyes she was begging her for a little comprehension and help to answer Jacob, but there was also warning telling her she wasn't changing her mind.

_Damn! She doesn't owe that stinking dog explanations..._

With all of her reproach, Rosalie looked at her in the eyes, waiting.

"Help me up, Rose?"

Rosalie turned to see with fury at Jacob, complaining to have to move Bella because she was afraid that some move were going to hurt the fetus. She showed all of her teeth, she would have been delighted to ripping out his throat, just like Jacob thought.

"Please, Rose."

_Agh, fine._

Rosalie made a disgust face, still bothered for having to give explanations to Jacob, but more worried about Bella. She bent down, was at my side, I felt that if I didn't move Rosalie wouldn't have enough space to help her, but I didn't have the strength to move away. I saw from her eyes how she put her arms delicately behind Bella's shoulders to help her and raise a little.

Jacob got worried immediately, he had seen her so fragile...

"No." I listened at him whispered at her. "Don't get up..."

"I'm answering your question." Bella interrupted him when she heard what Jacob asked her. The way in which she answered him, reminded him more to the way Bella used to talk to him.

I watched from seven different pair of eyes what was happening, I didn't need to see it with my own eyes. Rosalie had walked over Bella, pulled her softly off the couch, letting her in a position in which could be sitting, I couldn't move, I couldn't react, I couldn't even moved from the place where I was and while Bella moved, my face got buried into the cushions. I felt the blanket fell off to Bella's feet, letting at sight her answer.

Then I saw it, I heard how Bella actually looked, not the fake illusions that my family had or pretended to have to not make me feel even worse than I already felt. Yes, it was hell. Jacob looked her stomach, now swollen with that thing inside of her, thought he still didn't realize of what it was that was happening to Bella, he was thinking in how it looked her stomach, her torso seemed as if had a balloon coming out in a strange way, in a sick way. That was it, it was sick what Bella was suffering, I still didn't believe that Bella would have insisted in having that thing, that monster that was killing her, that was sucking out her life. His eyes went to the big sweater that Bella was wearing, thinking that it was too much big for her shoulders and her arms, he had noted that all of the weight that she seemed she have lost seemed to had been sucked towards her stomach. It took him a few seconds to realize what was happening, Bella had to help him, she put her hands over her stomach as she always did. Then he understood.

He understood, but didn't believe it. We couldn't even believe that it went so fast the growth of that thing. He remembered the last time that he saw her in our wedding a month ago. He was thinking that it was impossible that she was pregnant, much less that pregnant as he saw her. His thoughts left the skeptical tone realizing that she was pregnant though it was hard to believe it.

His thought changed suddenly, and what I saw was enough to know that maybe I would have some chance to convince him to help me or Bella. He was sick by seeing what I had done to her, he didn't even want to see Bella in that state, he didn't even want to think in what was inside of her, not even imagine what thing could be, he didn't believe that it was a _pretty baby_ as all my family always were trying to convince me, he didn't want to think that a thing like us that was what he hated the most in this world was inside of the body of Bella, something he loved so much. His stomach began to heave, and he had to stopped the vomit threatening to come out.

Then his thoughts told me what I already knew. It was worse than everything that I already felt, it was worse because he was thinking that everything that had caused Bella to look so sick, so pregnant, it was because that thing was feeding its own life by taking Bella's.

That's true, I wanted to yell.

It's a monster, I was agreed with every one of his words. Just like me, I didn't even had to see that in his mind to know that it was true, I had never doubted that I was a monster. How many had I told Bella and she hadn't listened to me?

_I always knew he would kill her._

His words, so true, made my mind to work again. My head raised immediately when I listened at his thoughts. It was time to speak with him.

It hadn't even been a second since my knees had been glued to the floor, allowing me to be at Bella's height, when I was on my feet, winning temporarily height over Jacob. I saw my eyes from his and his mind, they were black, and the shadows under them as big as Bella's. He noticed it too.

"Outside, Jacob."

Jacob raised quickly, I was now looking up as his height over surpassed mine. He was thinking that the fight had come and was happy about it, that was what he came for.

"Let's do this." Jacob agreed.

_Edward, we help you!_

Emmett got to my side in less than a second, followed by Jasper. But I didn't need their help, I wasn't going to fight with help if that were the case. I needed to speak with Jacob alone, and if Emmett came with me he would tell Rosalie. And even if he didn't, I didn't want company. I had to speak with him alone. Jacob wondered if the pack of wolves would clean up his remains after he was finished, he didn't care about it. He didn't even care that my brothers were so willing to help.

In an instant his eyes rest for a short second over Alice and Esme, wondering if he would have to do something against them, he didn't want to kill girls, didn't matter if they were vampires, though he was almost completely sure that my brother or someone else would finish him off before he had to fight against them. I almost smiles when he thought that he would make an exception with Rosalie. So would I.

"No." I listened at Bella gasping while I saw from the others eyes how she flung towards me, she barely got to my arm and clung to it with her hands, she didn't have enough strength to move that way, Rosalie moved with her, preventing that she would fall or hurt herself.

_See what you cause, Edward? More stress to Bella, she'll just get worse._

Rosalie was right. I had to explain to her before she could get more ill.

"I just need to talk to him, Bella." I told her in a low voice, hoping that she heard in my words that it was like that, my eyes on her face. It seemed that everything around had disappeared for an instant. My hand went to her face without thinking, I caressed one of her cheeks, after all I had done to her she still seemed peaceful when I caressed her. The contrary happened with Jacob, that seeing me doing this, his vision got all red, as if the fury to seeing me touch Bella after all made him angrier. He was right, I shouldn't be allowed to touch her again. "Don't strain yourself." I kept speaking to Bella. I had to hurry, Jacob was getting impatient. I begged Bella. "Please rest. We'll both be back in just a few minutes."

Bella stayed staring into my eyes, there was not much confidence that my words were true, she looked at me for a seconds until she was sure that my eyes were telling the truth. When it crossed through her eyes that ray of understanding and told me I believe you, she nodded with her head and let herself fell again into the couch, tired from the small effort she had done in the last minutes. Rosalie helped her to settled down again. Her eyes went to Jacob.

"Behave. And then come back." Bella asked him. While Jacob was busy listening at her words, I whispered to my brothers.

"I don't your help."

_But Edward..._ Emmett thought, and I just shook my head without looking at them.

_Son, be careful. Please! Don't do anything that could hurt Bella. You've got to come back._

Esme begged me.

Jacob didn't answer Bella. Thinking that if were going to fight, he couldn't keep his promise, and though it was like that, he wasn't in the mood to make them. He took his eyes off her, and followed me to the door.

I had to be far away enough for them to not hear what we were going to speak about, and close enough to hear their thoughts and make sure that they didn't have any idea to what was happening between us.

Jacob noticed something, as he hadn't heard when I asked my brother and everyone else to not follow me, he thought it was strange how easily had been to separate from the coven. Did he actually believe that I was going to let my family help me against him? Seven versus one? Never, this fight was between the two of us and no one else. But there was a most important matter than fighting in that moment.

I kept walking with him behind me, I was listening at every one of his thoughts at the same time that I prepared very well my words, I had to convince him some way to help me save Bella. I had to do it.

I looked at my steps from his mind, he was already thinking that it would be too easy to attack me in that moment, when I was so off guard, but then he remembered that I could ready all of his thoughts, I would know that exact moment in which he attacked me, he couldn't take me by surprise. His decisions would have to be very fast, he was already planning to attack me, so I had to intervene.

"I'm not ready for you to kill me yet, Jacob Black." I spoke to him in a low voice, the most I could, making sure that my family didn't know we wouldn't fight, that my goal was another one. "You'll have to have a little patience."

It bothered him my words, thinking that he wasn't going to put a date to my death, as it seemed that I had done. "Patience isn't my specialty." Of course not.

I had to keep walking some more yards, I could still hear the echo of our words in my family's thoughts. They were wondering what they had meant. Rosalie especially felt a little skepticism, wondering what could be what I wanted if it wasn't fighting. Jacob was still behind me, he was almost at my heels. I saw from his mind how he was at the edge to changing, he was burning and his fingers were trembling with the fury covering him. He was ready and waiting for my attack, or for a sign that told him to start. For as much as I saw and saw again inside of his mind, I didn't find anything similar to the hatred that I felt towards myself.

In that moment, I was sure that my family couldn't hear anything at all anymore, not even the whisper of our feet brushing against the ground. But I heard what they were thinking. They were nervous, they didn't know what to expect from our leaving. Bella hadn't said another words, but looking at the faces of my family, tense and anxious for not knowing anything, her eyes also became tense. Rosalie was trying to calm her down, but there was no change. I had to do this quickly.

I stopped and turned to be face-to-face with Jacob. He didn't expect my sudden movement, so he stopped and when he saw my face, he froze. There was no heat in him anymore, that heat that caused him to change. I saw my expression as I had never seen it before, I hadn't been able to show my real pain in front of anyone, not while Bella was there, and I never separated myself from her side. Here, in front of Jacob I felt a freedom I hadn't felt before, all the effort that I had exerted to not show this to Bella was free, there was no more strength in my to hide it. I couldn't hide it. The obvious pain that I was feeling was reflected in my eyes, and I saw it in his mind, for the first time he accepted that there so much more to live for him, to feel and to suffer so he could someday understand the agony invading my body permanently , and my mind, everything that I once were. There was no sign of the man that he had met, I didn't even recognize myself when I saw my face.

Without being completely conscious, I felt the need to wipe my hand across my forehead, to see in his mind that it really was my face what I was seeing, that the pain that I was feeling was the same one that was permanently marked in me. My fingers brushed the hard and cold skin of my face, feeling like tearing my head off once and for all, to start with what Jacob had come to finish, with my life. But I couldn't, I saw Bella standing in front of me, the same Bella that I had seen two years ago in the cafeteria, her beautiful chocolate brown eyes shining with the mystery of her hidden thoughts, inviting me to get into them, to see all the way to her soul, the image changed radically, and I saw again the Bella that had been in front of me minutes ago, laid over the couch, with barely enough strength to move, to whisper some words, her heart barely beating, her breathing barely getting into her lungs, I felt that at any moment I was going to explode, I wanted to yell again at cruel faith why had it done such horror to an angel so good and pure as Bella, why had it put her in my path if it would end with her life in such a painful way. But again, voice failed me, my mind was about to collapsing again, to lose myself inside that hole full of darkness and the pain that were living inside of me these days.

_This was the face a man would have if he were burning at the stake._ Jacob thought, and wasn't so far from the reality, the fire was burning me inside out, leaving nothing else than ashes in its path.

Jacob was able to utter a word for a moment, he was still processing the pain that he saw in my eyes, remembering the shadow that he had seen inside of the house, it was nothing compared to what he was seeing now, he had seen it in my eyes and Bella's, there was no doubt of what was happening, it wasn't just that Bella was pregnant and in that state, that she almost looked dead. He finally understood, to see me that way, made him understand.

"It's killing her, right? She's dying." I didn't have to answer, Jacob already knew the answer before he made his question. He was thinking that his face was beginning to have a slight echo of the pain than mine had. Weaker and different, he was thinking that he still was too shocked for what was happening for his brain to process the information so fast, it was too fast to understand that Bella was dying, I had had more time to get to this point in which I was, well he was wrong, since the moment in which Bella and I had realized of what was happening, I got immersed into that big hole that had me trapped, there was nothing else than hatred and punishment in it, I wasn't able to even feel my once beating heart, it was beyond dead, it wasn't able to feel what it once felt with Bella, not while she suffered more physical pain than what I would never be capable of feeling. For a moment I couldn't hear anything, anything around me, anything from Jacob or from my family, I wasn't conscious of anything but just the pure pain invading me, the pain that caused me to know what I had done to Bella, the pain that caused me to know what I was going to do, what I was going to ask Jacob, it was unbearable. At any moment it would too much.

_And different because this wasn't my fault._ It was the last thing that I heard from Jacob. And I didn't have to listen to everything else to know what he was talking about.

"My fault." I was barely capable to whispering, I felt the pain increasing, my body lost again the small strength that I had had to getting out of the house, to walk away with every step from Bella, as it should be. As it had to be. It had to work. But how to do it? How to give up on her? My knees gave up and I fell to the ground.

Jacob could only think in fighting, through his thoughts crossed my image, the easiest and vulnerable target to attack to. That was how I felt, that was how I wanted to felt, to let him kill me, to feel the suffering to paying for what I had done to my angel. But the fire in Jacob had put out, he was cold, there was no way that in that moment he attacked me.

"Yes." I moaned while my eyes were looking at the ground below me, I could see my figure from his eyes. It seemed like a confession, that was how he saw it. "Yes, it's killing her."

The hopelessness that I was showing, my figure without showing any sign to wanting to fight or could do it, was irritating him, thinking that he wanted a fight not an execution. But there was nothing in me that felt that could give him what he wanted, I didn't feel like having strength to raise and fight. I just wanted to die, but I couldn't give up, not yet.

"So why hasn't Carlisle done anything?" Jacob growled, exasperated by what he saw and didn't. He didn't know why Bella was still like that. "He's a doctor, right? Get it out of her."

I felt as like that left me with less strength, that was precisely what I thought, but it wasn't up to if there was a doctor or not in the house. Jacob saw my look when I raised it and saw him in the eyes, as if I was tired of repeating the same story, but it wasn't that, it was that I knew the answer and I still couldn't believe that that was it. Bella was dying because of her own will.

"She won't let us."

It took him a minute to understand what I had just said, it was difficult to understand that that was what was happening, but knowing Bella wouldn't be odd to him.

_Of course, die for the monster spawn. It was so Bella._ Jacob thought, and he was right.

"You know her well." I told him in barely a whisper, knowing that he could listen at me perfectly. "How quickly you see.… I didn't see. Not in time. She wouldn't talk to me on the way home, not really. I thought she was frightened—that would be natural. I thought she was angry with me for putting her through this, for endangering her life. Again. I never imagined what she was really thinking, what she was resolving. Not until my family met us at the airport and she ran right into Rosalie's arms. Rosalie's! And then I heard what Rosalie was thinking. I didn't understand until I heard that. Yet you understand after one second..." The sound coming out of my mouth was a combination of a whisper and a growl. How come he saw it and I didn't? I should have seen it, Bella wouldn't be dying now.

"Just back up a second. She won't let you." The sarcasm in his words was obvious, but I heard it from his mind how it was like that what came out. "Did you ever notice that she's exactly as strong as a normal hundred-and-ten pound human girl? How stupid are you vamps? Hold her down and knock her out with drugs."

"I wanted to. Carlisle would have..."

_What, too noble were they?_

Jacob wondered. It was nothing similar to that. He still didn't understand what role was playing Rosalie in all of this.

"No. Not noble. Her bodyguard complicated things."

_Oh. His story hadn't made much sense before, but it fit together now. So that's what Blondie was up to. What was in it for her, though? Did the beauty queen want Bella to die so bad?_

"Maybe. Rosalie doesn't look at it quite that way."

"So take the blonde out first. Your kind can be put back together, right? Turn her into a jigsaw and take care of Bella."

"Emmett and Esme are backing her up. Emmett would never let us… and Carlisle won't help me with Esme against it..." I couldn't continue, I thought that it was enough with what I had told him to understand where I was. That I couldn't do anything.

It was like I thought.

"You should have left Bella with me."

"Yes."

But it was already too late, it was true. Jacob was right. I should have thought before acting, I should imagined that this was possible, I should had been prepared. I never should had accepted what Bella asked me. I never learned to refuse at her wishes, not even now, knowing what my weakness could do, could refuse something to Bella. Jacob was thinking the same thing.

My eyes raised towards his face, and he was right. It was my own hell in which I was living, it was worse than really going to the hell that was waiting for us when we died, or whatever it was.

"We didn't know. I never dreamed. There's never been anything like Bella and I before. How could we know that a human was able conceive a child with one of us—"

But you should imagined it, I told myself.

"When the human should get ripped to shreds in the process?"

"Yes." I agreed with his question, remembering everything that my brothers and Carlisle had researched, what myself had seen in South America. "They're out there, the sadistic ones, the incubus, the succubus. They exist. But the seduction is merely a prelude to the feast. No one survives."

I shook my head, I could get from my head the images and the information that they had found during their searching. It was horrible, and I couldn't imagine that Bella was going to go through something like that. I wasn't going to allow it.

Jacob was only thinking that I was the same as those ones. If he knew how much Bella had to beg me so I accepted having relations with her, it hadn't been because of my pleasure, of course it had been that and the need to give Bella what she asked me for. Some way I would learn to refuse to Bella.

If she didn't leave to go with Jacob.

"I didn't realize they had a special name for what you are." He told me with disdain. Well deserved. But the hatred that I felt coming from him towards me, wasn't compared at all with the one that I was able to feel, with what I felt for myself.

He wasn't the one that was killing the woman he loved. He hadn't put a monster inside of her. How could he believe himself able to hate me more than how I hated myself?

It was simply impossible. It hadn't existed in the world so much hatred as the one that I was feeling for myself inside of me. I had condemned a beautiful angel to such suffering, to fall in love with a soulless and heartless monster. I had broken her wings, but I had to make them fly again, she had to get to heaven, she had to live peacefully for the first time since she met me.

I turned to see Jacob, and in his mind he compared my face with the one of someone with a hundred years old. Well, he was so far.

"Even you, Jacob Black, cannot hate me as much as I hate myself."

_Wrong._ He answered me in his mind, his thoughts were so angry and fully of rage that he wasn't able to say it out loud.

"Killing me now doesn't save her." I answered him, seeing in my family's minds how Bella was too tense since we had left the house. No, it wouldn't.

"So what does?"

Here was coming the time for the truth. It had to work, I had to convince him.

"Jacob, you have to do something for me."

"The hell I do, parasite!"

My eyes didn't leave his face. Of course he wouldn't do it for me, but I had to start some way. I had to convince him, and I knew deeply, reading what he was thinking that he was going to give in. he was going to do it.

He was still loving too much Bella as to let passed an opportunity to save her from that ordeal and to take her away from my side.

"For her?"

He pressed his teeth hardly, I listened how he was beginning to fight in his interior. He didn't want to think in what to do, he didn't want to think that he did it for me.

"I did everything I could to keep her away from you. Every single thing. It's too late."

No, it couldn't be too late. I was sure that Bella could still live. If she survived because of him, he would take her in his open arms into his life.

"You know her, Jacob. You connect to her on a level that I don't even understand. You are part of her, and she is part of you. She won't listen to me, because she thinks I'm underestimating her. She thinks she's strong enough for this..." I couldn't continue, it was as if a lump had gotten in my throat preventing me to keep talking. I felt as human for the first time in these weeks, as if I was choking, I swallowed nothing, and kept talking. "She might listen to you."

"Why would she?"

This wasn't going anywhere good, I had to do it better, he had to save her. I struggled to raising from the ground, it was as if my muscles didn't want to respond. I felt something new, a new opportunity had been presented to me when Jacob came without calling him, this had to be the new opportunity that I was waiting for to save her. He saw the change in my eyes, and wondered if I was becoming crazy. It was something close to that, but worse.

_Could vampires lose their minds?_

"Maybe." I answered his question when I listened at it in his mind. "I don't know. It feels like it." I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. "I have to try to hide this in front of her, because stress makes her more ill. She can't keep anything down as it is. I have to be composed; I can't make it harder. But that doesn't matter now. She has to listen to you!"

"I can't tell her anything you haven't. What do you want me to do? Tell her she's stupid? She probably already knows that. Tell her she's going to die? I bet she knows that, too."

Yes, all of that wouldn't work, but...

"You can offer her what she wants."

He still didn't understand what I was asking him, it was the most possible solution. It was perhaps part of becoming crazy as he believed. But I was desperate, I would do anything to save her.

"I don't care about anything but keeping her alive," I told him, to clear his confusion. I suddenly felt myself focus on what I had to do and say. "If it's a child she wants, she can have it. She can have half a dozen babies. Anything she wants." As much as I hated the idea, I had to say it. If it was her salvation, I would do it. "She can have puppies, if that's what it takes."

I hadn't been able to see him in the eyes while I was speaking. I myself didn't even believe what I was going to resort at such measure. I turned to see him, that he saw in my eyes that I was speaking honestly, that if it was what she wanted, the he offered it to her and he could have her as he had always wished. His forehead had been all wrinkled, without understanding what my words were saying, but it disappeared bit by bit while he was understanding what I offered him, to both of them. His mouth fell open.

"But not this way!" I told him, my voice coming out as a hiss, I was desperate, he had to agree. He had to help her, Jacob wasn't still recovered from the shock. "Not this thing that's sucking the life from her while I stand there helpless! Watching her sicken and waste away. Seeing it hurting her." I had to suck a gush of air to continue, I felt like I been hit in the gut, as if my lungs needed for the first time in years the air to breathe. "You have to make her see reason, Jacob. She won't listen to me anymore. Rosalie's always there, feeding her insanity—encouraging her. Protecting her. No, protecting it. Bella's life means nothing to her."

Jacob gasped, when he began understanding, it sounded almost as if he was choking. He had understood what I was asking him, and at the same time he didn't. He couldn't believe what my words meant. But I was desperate to find a way to save her, in those moment I didn't care about anything, just keep her with life, that that monster didn't keep ending with her life.

Though I knew it was almost a useless to try it this way, I was almost sure that Bella wouldn't even consider it, I had to try it.

If this didn't work, nothing would. I wouldn't speak about the subject again, because then I would be completely sure that her decision was irrevocable, that there wasn't enough force in this world to change her mind. I would accept that Bella was dying and that in a few days we wouldn't be breathing the same air.

_What was he saying? That Bella should, what? Have a baby? With me? What? How? Was he giving her up? Or did he think she wouldn't mind being shared?_

"Whichever. Whatever keeps her alive." I just wanted her to live, at any price.

"That's the craziest thing you've said yet." He could barely say, doubt was growing.

"She loves you." As much as it hurt me to say it, I had seen it in her eyes when she heard his voice, I saw when she heard he was coming in and would see him a few instants. She loved him.

"Not enough."

"She's ready to die to have a child. Maybe she'd accept something less extreme."

"Don't you know her at all?"

Of course I do, I thought. But it was my last chance to saving her.

"I know, I know. It's going to take a lot of convincing. That's why I need you. You know how she thinks. Make her see sense."

Jacob was showing himself reluctant in the outside, but the seed of the doubt was growing, he was doubting to want to accept what I telling him, but I was sure I would convince him. He was thinking, confused, that my suggestion was impossible, wrong, sick. I didn't think exactly as him, that Bella should spent the weekends with him and with me the week as if she was a rental movie. He could have her all, though it hurt me, but it would better if Bella chose him, if she would have chosen him. I wouldn't get in their way, if that was for her happiness, in a healthy, normal and human way.

_So tempting._

I listened at him thinking.

The next thing was too much difficult to bear, but with Bella in that state I had learned to control my emotions very well, better than what I once thought I could.

I tried very intensely to not hear his thoughts, but he was too close, and moreover I had to listen, to search for any sign that told me that he was accepting. The images that he was showing in his mind were too much, if it hadn't been because of the fact that he was my only chance to save the woman that I loved and that I now was seeing in his revolting fantasies, seeing her in his arms as if sometime it had been like that, seeing her sighing his name while that dog... no, it hadn't happened, I thought. But it will if the two of them accepted what myself hated so much to think about or to believe that I could happen. But if that saved her, if that was the price that I had to pay, I would. Bella had to live.

He tried to not imagine those images that he was seeing, that he had so dreamed about before, when there had still been a possibility that they could come true, and even long after that possibility had disappeared completely and they just left more pain.

The image that appeared then, was worse as much for him as for me. That was the image that should be in front of us, if I wasn't the monster that I was, that had gotten that monster inside of Bella and was ending with her life. He was lamenting what that image would do to him, the extra pain he would feel just because I had put that idea into his head. As much as he tried to erase it, he couldn't. Bella was glowing, in a way that I had never seen before, in the way that her face, her skin, her eyes should look like, healthy, so different from the figure that we were seeing in those moments. She was still pregnant, but her body wasn't distorted, but it looked in a more natural way, as it should be, round with _his_ child inside of her.

It was suddenly too much for him. "Make Bella see sense? What universe do you live in?"

"At least try." I begged him, he had to consider it, to try.

Jacob shook his head rapidly. And I waited for his thoughts to clear, though I could see his negative I knew that he wasn't sure of what he was saying, I saw it, and he knew.

"Where is this psycho crap coming from? Are you making this up as you go?"

"I've been thinking of nothing but ways to save her since I realized what she was planning to do. What she would die to do. But I didn't know how to contact you. I knew you wouldn't listen if I called. I would have come to find you soon, if you hadn't come today. But it's hard to leave her, even for a few minutes. Her condition... it changes so fast. The thing is... growing. Swiftly. I can't be away from her now."

"What is it?"

"None of us have any idea. But it is stronger than she is. Already."

His image brought me back, he was imagining to that monster inside of her, breaking her inside out, hurting her, killing her. It was too much.

"Help me stop it. Help me stop this from happening."

"How? By offering my stud services?" Jacob flinched with his own words, with the idea I had. I wasn't able to react as him, nothing scared me anymore than to see Bella dying before my own eyes, and that was to save her. "You're really sick. She'll never listen to this."

"Try. There's nothing to lose now. How will it hurt?"

_It would hurt me. Hadn't I taken enough rejection from Bella without this?_

"A little pain to save her? Is it such a high cost?"

"But it won't work."

"Maybe not. Maybe it will confuse her, though. Maybe she'll falter in her resolve. One moment of doubt is all I need."

"And then you pull the rug out from under the offer? 'Just kidding, Bella'?"

"If she wants a child, that's what she gets. I won't rescind."

It seemed like I was getting to convince him, Jacob was considering to accept what I was asking him. Though at the same time he was thinking about the reaction that would have, and I didn't doubt that it could happen like that or close, because Bella would have the strength to move not even a finger against him.

Then I saw the doubt again, thinking and trying to not let me talk to him about this, to play with his thoughts,

_I should just kill him now._

"Not now. Not yet. Right or wrong, it would destroy her, and you know it. No need to be hasty. If she won't listen to you, you'll get your chance. The moment Bella's heart stops beating, I will be begging for you to kill me."

"You won't have to beg long."

His words relieved a little my sorrow, at least I would have secure the hand that would take care of my death, there would be no one to stop it. I felt how the corner of my mouth twisted slightly, almost a smile. "I'm very much counting on that."

"Then we have a deal."

I nodded with the head, and to seal our deal, though it cost me as much work as him, I outstretched one of my hands in his direction.

Both of us swallowed our disgust and hatred towards each other, he stretched his hand to take mine. His skin was so hot as if putting the hand into fire. Our fingers intertwined for a moment, and we shook them just once. There was no need for more theatrics.

"We have a deal." I agreed.

It had to work, even when my thoughts and everything in me told me that Bella wouldn't accept any other option to save her life.

I had already said it, she was ready to die to have a child. But it wasn't any child, she had told me so many times, it was _our_ child, that was why she wanted it and wasn't willing to kill it because it hurt her a _little_, like she said. But it was my last hope, our last opportunity, for the three of us, to keep Bella with life. That she finally had a normal and happy human life, not like the monster in which she insisted to turn after all of this was over.

The conversation in which she had told her plan crossed my mind.

"Edward, if something goes wrong, you'll inject me with your venom and save me. I'm sure I won't die."

"How can you be so sure that it'll work, Bella?"

She had shrugged. "I'm not, but from something I am sure, I'm not leaving nor you, nor our baby. I'll live."

"Esme did it, I know, but she didn't have the same injuries than you, love. Your heart is barely working, my mother's was stronger, she endured it, but you..."

Bella shook her head, tears were threatening to fall down her cheeks. Her hand was over my mouth, preventing me to keep talking. "This is going to work. I love you, Edward. I'm not leaving you. Never."

I hadn't been able to convince her. So I was almost sure that this wasn't going to work, but I couldn't help to have the little hope that it would.

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	11. Chapter 10, LOST

**Hi guys! I've been apologizing with you since I don't have internet in my house 'cause I can't upload chapters as often as I wanted. So sorry again.**

**Well, here I left you the tenth chapter, hope you enjoy it, I'm already writing the eleventh… and guys, this is getting harder. I've been thinking that maybe these chapters are a little monotonous 'cause Edward suffers so much in this part of the story and it's all because of the same reason, I hope it's not too boring… PLEASE, tell me it's not.**

**Another reason it takes me so long, it's because I have to write it in Spanish first and then translate it at English, and I have to write myself, and like I said, I'm Mexican so it's not my birth language, so it takes much longer than what I'd want.**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

**Please review, I try to answer, but sometimes my time doesn't allow me.**

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Chapter 10. LOST

I wasn't completely conscious about what Jacob was thinking while we were walking back to the house, our pace wasn't so slow like it had been when we got out. My family listened our steps walking back, everyone was confused, nobody knew what had happened so the two of us were coming back, when it was supposed that we had gotten out of the house to fight, that was what they believed, in spite of my reassurances to Bella that I just wanted to talk with him.

Rosalie was the only one who wasn't confused, not at the same way in which everyone else were, there was more than anything suspicion in her thoughts, and she was already shouting at me that nothing that I was planning to do was going to work. Well, we'd see.

I had to make sure to take them to the same place or at the same distance in which Jacob and I had spoken, so my family wouldn't be able to listen at what was happening between him and Bella, and I could hear what he told Bella, to know how was going, if she was going to agree. She had to, it was much more than to just save her life in that moment, from a sure dead, I also knew that Bella would be much better at his side, her soul would be intact. Nothing of what I had done at her side put her in danger to not going to heaven, nothing of what she had done put her in danger to get closed the doors to heaven. Bella had to get safe.

When all of the faces of my family turned to see the glass wall, I saw from the peripheral sight of Rosalie, who never took her eyes off of her completely, that Bella got even more anxious at not knowing why my family was so tense. That wasn't good for her.

"_Bella, could you please calm down? Edward's already coming back with that... with Jacob."_

Bella nodded. _"Are you sure?"_

_Agh! "Yes, Bella."_ It bothered Rosalie when Bella got stressed for nothing or because of me.

Always my fault, the stress made her ill, and I always had to be the cause for her suffering.

In that moment, Alice was one of the most worried. She trusted too much on her visions and since she couldn't see anything she had been tenser than ever. When she couldn't see what would happen between the two of us had gotten her more nervous, though she couldn't have seen anything anyway, Alice couldn't see anything that involved the wolves.

Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper trusted that I had said the truth, they trusted that I was more sensible that what it looked, that I wouldn't do anything that could upset Bella, so they knew there hadn't been any fight, apart from the fact that they would have heard it.

Before I could still be concentrated on my family, I listened at Jacob.

_No, I wouldn't do it. It was twisted and wrong. I was going to forget all about what he'd said._

_But I would talk to her. I'd try to make her listen to me._

_And she wouldn't. Just like always._

Jacob was still thinking in what I had proposed to him, and of course I was agreed with him, but if that was the only option to save her, I didn't care.

I decided to not say anything about what I was hearing, because I knew Jacob would resort at my proposition, because like he had said, Bella wouldn't listen to anything that he said, perhaps what I had asked him she would, maybe. My less noble side, the one that wished to be forever with Bella told me to throw away my hope that she would listen at him, because it wasn't going to happen, and I rejoiced; but my more noble side, was begging the other one to let me alone, that Bella would survive.

I kept walking, the thoughts of my family were getting louder with every step that it brought us closer to the house.

I listened at my family as much as at Jacob wondering why we had gone so far to talk, that was what it had put them to suspect something, but Rosalie was the most worried about what we had talked about.

Jacob was wondering if the place that I had chosen to speak with him, I had chosen it so they couldn't hear us, if it had been far enough to make it, if that was the point. Well it was, if some of them would have listened part of our conversation, Jacob wouldn't have a chance anymore to get into the house and speak with Bella.

When we walked through the door, Jacob realized that it had really been my goal when I chose that place, the faces of my family were showing suspicions and confusion, but nothing else. Their thoughts were another matter. There was also something else that he didn't see.

_Why did you have to go so far, Edward? What is it you didn't want us to hear?_

_Son, are you okay? It didn't happen anything serious, did it?_

_Edward, you had us all worried. Well, all but Rosalie._

Jacob stayed stood at the entrance, where the clean air from outside was coming in through the open door, air he could breathe without hurting his nose, though it was less strong our scent in his human form than in his wolf form. His eyes followed me. He didn't know what was what he should do in that moment, with all my family still inside and surrounding Bella.

My eyes didn't see anything that it wasn't Bella, her eyes were also on mine. I had ignored all my family's questions, there would be a little more time to answer them.

I followed my figure from the back through Jacob's mind, my shoulders were stiff, there was no movement at all in them, pure stone. I kept watching Bella, ignoring the questioning at my surrounding, Bella was anxious, she didn't know what had happened, I saw a ray of worry in her eyes, then her eyes went to Jacob for a second before turning back to see me.

Her face lost a bit of color while I was still walking, the stress. And then Jacob understood what I had meant outside when I told him about the stress making her more ill. It was more than obvious, Bella had never borne situations of this kind, she had never liked not knowing what was going on in tense situations, or seeing danger or suffering at her surrounding, even more when that suffering was caused because of her, like in this situations.

"We're going to let Jacob and Bella speak privately."

From Jacob I listened how my voice sounded in his head, kind of robotic, lifeless. Well, what other way it could sound, when that way was like I was, like I felt?

The small control that I could manage in those moments, where threatening to slip away from me; and that couldn't be, Bella couldn't see me in that state, it would just make her feel worse that how she felt in that moment, I had to control myself for a few more seconds.

"Over my pile of ashes."

Rosalie hissed at me when she heard my words, she was suspecting of me.

_Ah, now I understand why you didn't want us to hear you speaking with that dog, Edward. Don't even think that I'm walking away from Bella._

She was thinking, shouting at me it was more correct. She had walked over Bella, and had one of her hands over Bella's cheek. She didn't have intention to leave.

My look didn't turn away from Bella, who hadn't said anything. She was confused, didn't know what was going on. "Bella." I said in the same empty tone, I heard that from Jacob. "Jacob wants to talk to you. Are you afraid to be alone with him?"

Bella put her eyes on Jacob, confusion still clear in them. She saw something in Jacob that gave her confidence, she turned to see Rosalie.

"Rose, it's fine. Jake's not going to hurt us. Go with Edward."

_Oh no, Bella. She should be more reasonable and kick that stinking dog out._

"It might be a trick." Rosalie answered her, it sounded more like a warning, she was the one closest to the truth, of course. She supposed the worst, meaning: the truth.

"I don't see how." Bella told her. Without having idea that it was like that.

I thought that it was time to intervene, Rosalie didn't want to give up. It was of vital importance that Jacob spoke with Bella, he had to convince her of what I wasn't capable of. He had to save her. Rosalie was just getting into the way, if I had to get her out crawling, I would. My patience was running out, at the same time that Bella's life.

"Carlisle and I will always be in your sight, Rosalie." I told her in a not so much empty tone, my eyes were telling her everything. It infuriated me that Rosalie cared so little by the life of the woman that I loved. That she cared about that monster. "We're the ones she's afraid of."

I knew the reaction that my words would cause. But it was to late to regret saying them. I internally cursed myself for causing Bella more pain.

"No." Bella whispered, tears were begging to try falling down her cheeks, her eyelashes wet. I also saw it from Jacob, everyone was realizing the pain that it caused Bella that I thought that. But it wasn't precisely that way. "No, Edward. I'm not..."

I knew what was coming. I shook my head to stop her, my lips twisted a little, in which what seemed a smile. In Jacob's head, I saw how it was even for him, painful to look at my smile. There was no happiness in it. "I didn't mean it that way, Bella. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

_Sickening. He was right—she was beating herself up about hurting his feelings. The girl was a classic martyr. She'd totally been born in the wrong century. She should have lived back when she could have gotten herself fed to some lions for a good cause._

Jacob was thinking, and he was completely right. Bella thought in everyone except herself. In those moments she worried too much for what I went through, suffered or felt. Whatever made that I felt pain, Bella would take it without thinking about it twice, it was the same with me. So there was no end to this circle. But it had to end, now.

"Everyone." I told my family, motioning with my hand to the door. Nobody had moved, and I was sure that Rosalie would be the last one. "Please."

Jacob noted at the same time that my family did, that the composure that I was trying to keep so I didn't cause Bella more stress was slipping away from my hands. I could see myself in his mind, Jacob was remembering my image out there when I was speaking with him, as a burning man. My family, even without had seen that same face that Jacob, realized the same thing that he did. Everybody got worried immediately, thinking about what would happen with me.

_Oh, my son. He's suffering so much, when he doesn't deserve it._ Esme.

_Edward, we're going. Don't worry, Rosalie has to come out too._ Alice was begging me to calm down.

Without saying a word the five of them move to the door, Bella couldn't have followed them with her look, Jacob counted their movements, in the time in which his hear beat twice, everyone was outside. Except me, I was still waiting for Rosalie in the door, and her in the middle of the room, hesitating.

_I hope this isn't a trick, Edward. Because it's not going to work. It'll just be a waste of time._

I didn't have to say anything. Bella did it for me.

"Rose, I want you to go." She barely whispered.

Rosalie came close to me, she looked me with fury, angry that I had made what I wanted, that Bella were alone with Jacob and they could talk. She motioned at me with her hand.

_You first._

I walked out through the door, and from her mind I saw how she turned to see Jacob, her eyes almost made a hole in his face. Warning him to not do anything that he would regret. But I knew that though Jacob had seen it, he wouldn't listen. Then I saw her walking out through the door too, her glare still there.

We were all outside of the house. I walked, ignoring Rosalie's glare at me, towards the same place where Jacob and I had been moments ago.

Everyone followed me immediately, all except for Rosalie, which was still stood in the lawn in the front of the house. Jacob was still taking his first step towards where Bella was. Emmett stopped when he didn't hear Rosalie's footsteps following us.

"Rose! Come on, let's go."

Rosalie glared at him, not with the same fury with which she looked at me or at Jacob. But in that moment, she was angry with everyone.

_You have so much to answer for, Edward Cullen. Don't you understand that Bella isn't giving up her baby?_

That revived in me the same anger that a moment ago I almost showed in front of Bella.

I turned to see her, the movement was so unexpected for everyone, who didn't listen at what Rosalie was thinking and telling me, that surprised them.

_Edward, are you okay?_ Carlisle asked me a little worried.

"Her baby? Don't you want to mean your baby, do you, Rosalie?"

Everyone was confused for what I had said, but neither asked. Thinking that I wasn't going to answer at nothing.

_What's the difference? You don't want it, so someone will have to take care of him,_

That made me see red, as if I was a bull and she my prey, I had to...

I hadn't even realized that I was walking back towards Rosalie, my position was ready to attack. Emmett got in the middle of my way, worried by what I could do in that state of my mind, I wasn't thinking with clarity.

_Whoa, Edward. Easy, brother._

Emmett was asking me while his arms surrounded me, preventing me to walk closer to Rosalie.

_What? Are you going to beat me, Edward? Do it, I'm not afraid of you._

"I should do it. But I won't." I was still a gentleman, and I wasn't going to fight with a lady. I turned to see Emmett. "Get your arms off me, I'm not going to do anything against your _wife_."

It hurt Emmett the way in which I talked to him, in which I expressed it. But in those moments I didn't care, the pain was unbearable, and Rosalie was just making it worse. Her selfishness sickened me, I just wished that Jacob convinced Bella, and get her away from this horror story full of monsters.

Rosalie finally deigned to walk towards where we were, I didn't want to wait until she got to the place where we were standing, from there we still could listen what was happening inside of the house. Everything had happened in less than five seconds. Jacob had already gotten next to Bella, and his mission would start at any moment, I had to get my family away.

I turned around to walk towards where everyone else were waiting for us. I started walking without even raising my eyes to see my family.

Carlisle and Esme, Alice and Jasper had believed for a second that I would actually attack Rosalie. I really couldn't believe that my family had believed it. So little they knew me, to think that I would capable of attacking a lady, even more when that lady was my sister. But I couldn't give it the importance that maybe I would in other circumstances. Emmett and Rosalie were with them in that moment, and I kept walking behind me. In a few seconds they wouldn't hear absolutely anything from what Bella and Jacob talked about.

I stopped in the same place where Jacob and I had been talking. I stayed looking at the ground, from six different thoughts I could see my figure back to them. They didn't know what to say, so they kept quiet. For the first time, Rosalie also accepted that I was suffering and gave me a few minutes to recover myself, or to be able to speak in that moment.

I was looking a blind point inside the forest that was in front of me, listening. But more than anything, I was listening what Jacob told Bella.

"_I'm not going to lie, Bells. You're hideous."_ For a moment I felt like ripping his throat up when I heard him talking to Bella that way. But then I thought that maybe hearing at the truth how it really was, with no one around her to feed her fake hope, like Rosalie, she maybe would hear, so I held back, and kept listening.

"_I know." _Bella answered him with a sight. Was she understanding how serious was her situation? What I was thinking? Bella never did, but I was hoping she would now._ "I'm scary-looking."_

"_Thing-from-the-swamp scary."_ Again, that protective instinct that I had towards Bella surfaced, I hated to listen that anyone talked to her that way. But again, I convinced myself that at talking to her that way she would listen to the truth.

Bella laughed. I hadn't see her laughing that way since we had come back from Isle Esme. Jacob was capable to making her feel better, happy, in a natural way, not like me. I made all the contrary, just suffering into her life, nothing else. _"It's so good having you here. It feels nice to smile. I don't know how much more drama I can stand."_

How could she say that? More drama? Yes, there was something seriously wrong with the functioning of her brain. All this _drama_, like she said, could've been prevented if she would've wished it. But no, she preferred to be dying in front of my eyes.

Jacob rolled his eyes when he listen at Bella.

"_Okay, okay,. I bring it on myself."_ Well, at least she accepted it.

"_Yeah, you do. What're you thinking, Bells? Seriously!"_

Here was coming what I was expecting. But sure, as if she knew exactly the best moment to interrupt what I was seeing, to keep me in the dark, Rosalie decided to start speaking with me in that moment. She had waited so long, that even myself was about to consider the option that my sister had become mute.

Rosalie walked towards myself, in such a furious way, that it was as if my family had woken up.

"Rose, please. Don't do anything."

"Please, Carlisle. I'm not doing anything. I just _Edward _" she highlighted my name so I turned to see her. So I turned, I put my eyes on hers, and in them there was nothing else than fury, but she had it very well controlled. "to answer some questions."

Carlisle shook his head, a little disappointed from the attitude that Rosalie and I were taking. Anyone else hated, as much as him and Esme, that our relationship were so bad. But it had always been this way, since Rosalie had opened her eyes, since she had listened my voice for the first time. I was already used, but this had been to much for me, it had gotten our mutual feelings at the same level, she didn't stand me as much as I didn't stand her.

"Rose, Jacob's just talking with Bella. It's not going to happen anything." Alice told her, trying that the atmosphere around us got calmer.

_Edward, please, could you made Rose calm down? If you had to lie, do it._

Alice had no idea of what I had talked about with Jacob, but she knew that it had to do something with saving Bella, no other matter interested me these days. So she knew it, even when I hadn't confirmed it.

"Carlisle, it's all right. If Rosalie wants to know something, and I can answer it, I will." I told my father, looking at Rosalie. She wasn't happy with what I said.

_It's not if you can, you will, Edward._

"Why did you take that dog so far from the house, so we couldn't listen at you?"

_Mission accomplished. But that just makes me believe that there's something you're planning with that dog, so say it._

"I don't have to give you explanations. Nor _you_ have to know everything I do or stop doing. Like what I talked about with him."

"What? Do you think him's going to convince Bella for what you couldn't?" Rosalie asked me, a slight tone of mock in her words, she raised an eyebrow.

"Rose..."

"Stay out this, Emmett." Rosalie answered Emmett without even turning to see him.

_Please, Edward. You know how Rose is. Couldn't you just give up?_ Sure, it was so easy for him to say that, it wasn't the woman he loved the one dying.

I stayed in silent for a moment, everyone did, and in those seconds that my mind focused on Jacob and Bella again, I could hear them.

"_Did he really ask you to talk to me?"_ I listened at Bella asking.

Jacob nodded. He still hadn't told her what I had offered him, both of them. _"To talk some sense into you. There's a battle that's lost before it starts."_

No, it couldn't be lost. Though deeply, I knew he was right, that Rosalie and everyone else were right, that I should give up and stop insisting on something that I would never get, that would never make Bella regret and let us save her.

"_So why did you agree?"_ That was a very good question, but Jacob didn't answer her. Still I could listen at the answer.

"Edward, what did you ask that dog to do?" Rosalie brought me back.

"Enough, Rosalie. Leave Edward in peace. Isn't enough what he's going through, so you have to attack him this way?" Esme defended me, she was worried for how I looked, I hadn't realized that my expression had come, almost, hopeless. What I had just listened, _lost battle_, was it really that way? Was there really nothing to do to save her?

"_It'll work out, you know. I believe that."_

Of course she believed that, she had been repeating that to everyone, especially me since she decided to keep that monster, but it wasn't possible. For as much as I wanted it, for as much as I wanted to believe as she did.

"Edward?"

Carlisle talked to me, worried by the absence that seemed to be emanating from my body, my mind was somewhere else, focused listening everything that was happening inside of the house, listening to the words that would save Bella.

"What was it what happened with Jacob? He came set on fighting, and it wasn't like that. Could you at least explain us that, please?"

I couldn't answer at that. My family had worried so much when I had told them that that was what Jacob wanted when he was coming to our house. To come and check his then suspects that Bella was already a vampire, he wanted to kill me.

_Son, keep Rosalie distracted for a moment at least._

"Okay." I sighed, and shook my head. I couldn't believe that they made me speak about that. I had to find a way to not give me away before them. "That was what he wanted. To fight and kill me, and to have an opportunity to kill you, too."

Esme took of hand to her mouth, she couldn't believe what I had just said. But her worry was more because of her family than herself.

"Don't worry. Some..." I wasn't going to tell them that my misery and the face he saw, was what had stopped him. "thing... stopped him."

_Things? What things? That you asked him to do something to stop Bella?_

"What things, son?"

I felt and saw in their minds, how the face of that man that I had been in front of Jacob was coming back. Suddenly, I had no strength to hide it. It had been too much time trying to hide all the agony that were inside of me, too much to be able to continue. It was happening just like it had with Jacob, at not feeling the obligation to hide it, because Bella wasn't there to see me, I felt that I had no reason to which cling to it, to which stop pretending that I was alright.

_I think now I understand_. Carlisle thought, thought his mind crossed my face again, the same one that Jacob had seen when he came into the house, and what he thought he had seen when getting out, the same face that him and my family could see in this moment.

"That's not of importance." I barely said. "Just that Jacob is not going to try anything against me until..." I stopped, realizing where I was heading.

"Until what?"

_Edward, don't scare us. What's happening?_

"He just promised to not do anything, because he understands that Bella wouldn't stand in these moment something like... my death. That that just would make things worse."

"You mean that..." _when Bella dies he's going to, kill you?_

"Exactly."

"What's the matter? What you're talking about?" Emmett had gotten desperate, he didn't like when he didn't know what we were talking about.

"That's not going to happen, son. We won't allow it."

"It's not your choice. It's mine." Did they think that I would really live without Bella at my side? "I'm not planning on living another second more when Bella's hear stops beating."

My tone was decisive. I tried to make them listen that they couldn't make me change my mind.

Esme and Alice were immediately full of sorrow when they listened at my words, and though they didn't say anything, I could hear it. They wouldn't say anything, they knew me. But my words hurt them immensely, both of them would suffer if Bella and I died, I knew it.

"Of course not, Edward. We're not going to allow Jacob to kill you."

_Brother, reason, okay?_

I shook my head again, trying to ignore all of their thoughts. It was hard, but some way I made it and could concentrate on Jacob and Bella again, while the other ones were still shouting at me to reason. I hadn't listened what Bella had told him before he answered him, I just could see some of her words, she had talked about magic, that someday it would make sense to him.

"_If you think that imprinting could ever make sense of this insanity . . ."_ I listened how he struggled to find the right words. The next thing wasn't so nice from his part, Bella wouldn't like to hear them._ "Do you really think that just because I might someday imprint on some stranger it would make this right?"_ He pointed one of his finger towards Bella's stomach, motioning to what he meant, even when Bella knew what he was talking about. _"Tell me what the point was then, Bella! What was the point of me_

_loving you? What was the point of you loving him? When you _die" His words had become a snarl, all the fury growing, I almost got off running to protect Bella from his words, from his fury. But she had to listen at him that way, someone had to force the truth on her. "how_ is that ever right again? What's the point to all the pain? Mine, yours, his! You'll kill him, too, not that I care about that." _Bella flinched when she heard that last thing, maybe remembering what had once happened already. Even though Jacob didn't stop._ "So what was the point of your twisted love story, in the end? If there is any sense, please show me, Bella, because I don't see it."_

All of his words hurt me as much as maybe hurt Bella. Jasper felt the change in me, it wasn't the same pain that I had been feeling these weeks. It was different, in other level.

"Edward, Bella's convinced that she won't die. You should be more optimistic, and support her, help her to not let her die. You're the only one that she wants to be there at her side. She might had gone with Rosalie, but she wants you now. This affects you both, more than any of us."

_Think about it, even if she died, she wouldn't want you to die, much less now that she would leave in your hands the life of your child._

His words, made me see and listen with other meaning at the next words of Bella.

"_I don't know yet, Jake. But I just… feel… that this is all going somewhere good, hard to see as it is now. I guess you could call it faith."_

Faith, that was what Bella had and it was missing in me. Maybe if I wished really hard as much as Bella did, this would go somewhere good as she believed. Maybe if I really kept at her side, and didn't let die away inside of me the fire of hope, if I kept it alive, everything would work out well.

Would that be what was missing in me?

It sounded so easy, but it was no easy at all to do it. All the negativity that surrounded me, that had me in the depth of that black hole, didn't let me turn on that small light which would let me see to the end of the tunnel. I couldn't find the way to see the light.

"Edward, are you okay?" Carlisle asked me.

I turned to see him, without noticing that I had turned my eyes towards the house, ignoring my family.

I nodded with the head, and lowered my look to see him. They were almost the same faces that a moment ago, they were still anxious, even Rosalie. The difference was that Rosalie was anxious because she didn't know what was happening with Bella.

_Just tell me that Bella's fine, Edward. I'll stop bugging you._

In that moment she was genuinely worried about Bella, also about the fetus, but she really did want to hear an answer.

"She's fine, Rosalie. I would have never allowed Jacob to come in if he planned to hurt her. Don't doubt that, I told you, I won't do anything that Bella doesn't want."

"I believe you. Thank you." She raised an eyebrow, she wasn't happy to thanking me, but she believed me. Rosalie had a very strange way of thinking.

Jacob still hadn't resorted to my words. They kept arguing about the plan that Bella had, and for a second, an instant of insanity, I thought that her plan would work. That everything would work out, and then I remembered Carlisle's words, when he told me that her heart was too weak, that maybe she wouldn't bear the change.

We stayed silent for a moment.

My mind was still thinking about what Jasper had told me, about what I had listened Bella saying.

Was that there really was an option, that it wasn't her ending dead?

I wanted to believe it with all my might, but it had run out, there was nothing in me that could motivate me to believe.

_I'm not going to leave you. Never._ Her words resounded in my head over and over again. Bella had been so convinced. Of course she had been, she didn't have any idea of how this worked. And still when she had listened to me telling her that her heart wouldn't resist, she had showed herself optimistic, that was something that I didn't have. There had never been in me that feeling, Bella had showed me that it existed, but nor before that what we wished got true, so maybe I wouldn't see it again until Bella came out of this alive, until I had her at my side forever.

But, what if she accepted what Jacob would ask her?

"_You're not planning on surviving this human."_ I listened Jacob telling Bella, he tried to not make it sound as a question, he rather think that it was a fact. Well it was, almost.

"_No. I'm not stupid."_ Bella's eyes met with his for a moment, and I could see them again, as if they were looking at me. _"I guess you probably have your own opinion on that point, though."_

"_Emergency vampirization."_ Jacob could barely said.

She was explaining to him her plan, how she had come up with it. Though it wasn't hard to suppose for us, Bella had always wanted that we changed her, and that was her plan before this disastrous situation in which I had put her in.

"_It worked for Esme. And Emmett, and Rosalie, and even Edward. None of them were in such great shape. Carlisle only changed them because it was that or death. He doesn't end lives, he saves them."_

That was true. Carlisle didn't end with the lived, he saved them. If you could call them that way, we were condemned, soulless, and without a real life. The only thing that he did was to let us keep existing in this world. But for certain purposed, it was true.

When I heard that, that Bella trusted in such a way in my father, that he saved lives, I felt again, what this would work out well, that my angel would survive, some way, we would find it. I would make sure of that, I wasn't going to abandon her. I would never do it. Her life was the most important thing for me, or at least I would give her what she wanted, to keep existing at my side and our family's, because it was now my family was hers, and maybe, remotely considering, that she didn't die, maybe that monster could be with us, Bella would never leave it.

Jacob felt a twinge of guilt when he thought about Carlisle, in the good vampire doctor, like he felt before. He knew that my father was a good person, though he was what he hated the most.

I listened how he shoved that thought away, and started in with the begging again. But now I wished that he wouldn't.

"_Listen to me, Bells. Don't do it that way."_ I wished really badly to be able to get off running to her side, and to get her away in this moment from Jacob, I couldn't stand the idea of losing her. But even if it was a possibility to saving her, it was safest that she accepted Jacob and to get away from my life, though that hurt me. _"Don't wait until it's too late, Bella. Not that way. Live. Okay? Just live. Don't do this to me. Don't do it to him."_ In that moment his voice started raising in volume, he was getting closer. He was about to get what he always had wanted, to take her away from my side. _"You know what he's going to do when you die. You've seen it before. You want him to go back to those Italian killers?"_

Bella cringed into the couch. That was almost a dirty move. Bella still had nightmares about the Volturi, of what she had to go through because of my stupidity. I knew that I hurt her to think that someone could hurt me, or kill me as they were capable of.

But Jacob didn't feel the need to tell her that in this occasion I wouldn't have to go so far to reach my goal, he would do it delightedly. That was our deal.

I was terrified, not the same terror that I felt to losing her because she died, but because she abandoned to leave with him. But I already couldn't do anything else about this, Jacob was so close to offering her what I couldn't give her without her coming out injured in this way.

My hands had become into fists at my sides, my position was tense. Waiting for her answer. My family noticed it.

Rosalie interrupted my thoughts. And for the first time I was grateful.

"Edward, I already know what you asked him." In her tone there was no reproach, just understanding. "You want him to convince Bella, right?"

I turned to see her, and surprisingly, I found comprehension, as I had listened in her tone.

"I know why you do it, and though sometimes it seemed that I don't care what you feel, it's not like that. But you know that she's not going to accept it. She doesn't need me at her side to say no."

_I'm sorry, but you have to accept that this is what she wants. And some way's going to work out._

"I can't be that optimistic, Rosalie. It's too much little the possibility that Bella would survive. And I can't live without her." Suddenly, all the hope that I had wanted to make grow inside if me disappeared, leaving nothing at its path. Fury invaded me, I didn't understand why completely, maybe because of what Rosalie had told me, thought comprehensive, there was a tone under her words that was trying to force me to believe it, and leave along Bella, to not insist in to convincing her to get that thing out of her. "I'm not going to allow it, she has to understand that is the only solution, even if it's the last thing that I do, I'm going to make it."

My tone had been enraged, and that brought back the protective and furious side of Rosalie, too.

_If that's how you want it._

"You're not going to make it. I'm not allowing it. I had been willing to get the white flag with you, Edward. But if you want to make things difficult, it'll cost you more."

I returned to hearing what was happening between Bella and Jacob.

Bella took a big gush of air before answering to whatever Jacob told him. _"It's not the right thing now."_ Her look went to her stomach, and her words were barely a whisper. _"I won't kill him."_

For a second I got worried that Jacob would switch form in front of Bella, his hands had started shaking again. _"Oh, I hadn't heard the great news. A bouncing baby boy, huh? Shoulda brought some blue balloons."_

Bella had no idea, none of us had, which was the genre of that monster would have. So when Jacob finished talking, her face blushed with a slight pink color, it wasn't that beautiful color that I so much love to see in her, it barely lightened. But still, it hurt Jacob in the depth, to see her so beautiful, so vulnerable in front of his eyes.

"_I don't know he's a boy."_ Bella told him, her tone a little sheepish, ashamed that she had said that, because she didn't really know what it was, but that was what she wanted. _"The ultrasound wouldn't work. The membrane around the baby is too hard—like their skin. So he's a little mystery. But I always see a boy in my head."_

"_It's not some pretty baby in there, Bella."_

"_We'll see."_ Her voice sounded almost smug. Like every mother, thinking that her baby is the most beautiful in the planet. She had already told me. Her words resounded in my head.

_You're the father, Edward. So he has to be the most beautiful baby in the planet. I only hope he's just like you, that he won't have anything from me to ruin it._

I had almost yelled when I listened it, not just because it confirmed that she would keep that monster. But because she thought that that thing would be beautiful, like me? How many times had I told her that I was a monster, still she kept looking at me as someone beautiful? All my _beauty_ was part of our kind, it was a mirage that we had developed when we changed to this state, to attract our prey. We didn't have the natural beauty that she had, and it would be more than perfect if it were all of her features that were on it, if it wasn't a monster like me.

I didn't pay attention for a moment to whatever was happening between Bella and Jacob. My family kept watching every change in my expression, their eyes never left me, just Rosalie allowed herself a glance at the house now and then.

_Edward? Did you ask Jacob what I think?_ Alice asked me, remembering the day in which I had offered Bella the divorce, the freedom to leave when she wished, and thinking that maybe that thing had been what I told Jacob, that he could be with her, if it just Bella got saved.

My eyes turned immediately at her face, sometimes my sister saw more than what I could see in the other people, she knew me too well. I couldn't fool her.

I sighed, and in an almost imperceptible move, I nodded.

Her eyes almost fell out of their sockets, the surprise of my answer, still when she expected it, she couldn't believe that it was like that, that I had done that, that I had offered Jacob having Bella.

_Edward!_ Her thoughts were fuller of a sorrow and reproach mixed together.

I couldn't keep my look any longer on hers, and I turned it again to the ground. Alice was trying to get back into herself, to focus in what she wanted to say to me, I couldn't read well what she wanted.

_Rose's right. It's not going to work; Bella will never leave you and you know it, Edward._

I didn't answer anything at that, I couldn't listen anything else than Jacob. His words were finally taking the path that I so wanted and at the same time I didn't.

"_What's the deal, Bella?"_ He told her, his eyes were looking at the carpet, he realized that his feet were bare and leaving smudges of dirt in it, and he was kind of happy. I just could think in Rosalie, and what Esme might said, though it didn't worry much. _"I thought the whole point was that you wanted your_

_vampire more than anything. And now you're just giving him up? That doesn't make any sense. Since when are you desperate to be a mom? If you wanted that so much, why did you marry a vampire?"_

Jacob was right, that same thing I had wondered for myself. She didn't even care when I reminded her the night in which she had told me that she didn't care to never be able to have kids if she married me, if we changed into a vampire.

I heard him thinking, _I was dangerously close to that offer he wanted me to make. I could see the words taking me that way, but I couldn't change their direction._

She would be saved if she agreed, I repeated myself when I heard Jacob thought about it. It hurt me too much to even think that Bella might chose that dog after all.

Bella sighed before she answered Jacob, and I had a slight idea of what would be. _"It's not like that. I didn't really care about having a baby. I didn't even think about it. It's not just having a baby. It's… well… this baby."_

It was as if her words sent new vibrations into my dead hear, as if she made it beat again. Bella just wanted to be with me, and she didn't want anyone else.

To have a family with her, a real family...

"_It's a killer, Bella. Look at yourself."_

His words foiled the fake dream, a silly fantasy that was threatening with invading me. It was a monster who was killing the woman that I loved, its own mother. How could I love it, how could Bella want to have a family with two monsters?

"_He's not. It's me. I'm just weak and human. But I can tough this out, Jake, I can—"_

The same words that she so many times had repeated at me, but both of us knew that it wasn't like that.

"_Aw, come on! Shut up, Bella. You can spout this crap to your bloodsucker, but you're not fooling me. You know you're not going to make it."_

I didn't like at all the way in which Jacob talked to Bella, but in the bottom I kept thinking, that I Bella listened at the truth as it was she would believe it, and would give up. The words from Rosalie and Alice came to my mind, even Bella had said them. _It's going to work out._

Maybe I should give up.

Bella looked at him with fury, glaring, she looked and was so vulnerable, so weak and still she kept being the same kitten that I met who believed it was a lion. _"I do not know that. I'm worried about it, sure."_

So she wasn't that sure, maybe that she were worried would be of help to Jacob and could convince her. Though I could almost make sure, that Bella would be more worried about the life of that monster than hers.

"_Worried about it."_ Jacob murmured between his teeth.

Then I flinched when I saw that Bella gasped suddenly, and her hands flew all of a sudden to her stomach. That thing, hurting her again. I couldn't even remember anymore how many times in these minutes I had wanted to sprint to her side, but this time had no comparison. Everyone became tense immediately, in the moment in which I flinched, my eyes had gone to the house.

_What is wrong, Edward? What is it?_

"Nothing. Just... the same as ever. It kicked her."

everyone, especially Rosalie, sighed with relief. They'd believed the worst.

"_I'm fine." _Bella reassured Jacob between gasps, she still hadn't recovered the air._ "It's nothing."_

Jacob had forgotten all the fury that he had felt moments ago, but his look wasn't in her face, he hadn't even processed what Bella had told him, his attention was now focused in the stomach of Bella, which when she took her hands to her stomach, had pulled away one side of the sweatshirt that was covering her, Jacob kept staring, horrified, it was everything that I could read in his mind, the skin from her stomach that had left exposed to his sight. It cost me a lot of hard work to see the same than him, Bella was careful that, me principally, didn't see her stomach, she didn't like that I saw what that monster had caused her. The skin was full with bruises, that Jacob without understanding still what they were, believed that they just were big splotches of purple-black ink.

Suddenly, the exposed skin got under the fabric of her sweatshirt again. The most sure was that Bella would have noticed the look of Jacob, and that was exactly what he thought.

"_He's strong, that's all."_ Her words sounded kind of defensive. Trying that Jacob didn't give it too much importance. But not even us acted that way as her, only Rosalie. Even when none of us commented anything, didn't mean that they agreed with Bella.

So Jacob understood what he had thought were splotches of ink actually were bruises.

Jacob almost felt sick when he realized what they really were. His thoughts then returned to the moment in which I told him that I saw that thing hurting her, understanding now my words as he didn't at the moment. I saw how suddenly, he himself felt I little crazy too. It was nothing compared to what I felt, it could never be compared. For him it was just the beginning, for me, for us it seemed the end already.

"_Bella."_

The tone in his voice was too much obvious, and Bella of course noticed it. She raised her look to him, she still didn't recover completely her breath, was still struggling, her eyes full of confusion. She didn't understand the reason of his tone.

So here was coming, what he had seen had convinced him. He was going to ask her.

I suddenly find myself more tense, more terrified, I didn't have any idea of what would be her answer. Even when I had though it would be negative, what if it wasn't?

"_Bella, don't do this."_

"_Jake-"_

He interrupted her, he hadn't told her what he wanted.

"_Listen to me. Don't get your back up yet. Okay? Just listen. What if… ?"_

Just a few more moments.

"_What if what?"_

"_What if this wasn't a one-shot deal? What if it wasn't all or nothing? What if you just listened to Carlisle like a good girl, and kept yourself alive?"_

He was so close to ask her, and I to lose her.

"_I won't—"_

Jacob interrupted her. _"I'm not done yet. So you stay alive. Then you can start over. This didn't work_

_out. Try again."_

The way in which his words talked to her, weren't clear. Bella wasn't going to understand what he really was asking her. I knew it.

Bella frowned, confused, trying to reason what he had just told her. Her hand went to his forehead, where Jacob's eyebrows had mashed together, trying to smooth the place where it was wrinkled. Her fingers smoothed it, while she kept thinking. But in her eyes I could see that the confusion didn't leave her, she had no idea of what he was talking about.

And in my selfishness, I was glad that she didn't.

Would have been my last minutes with her, before I walked out of the house? Would she go with him after she understood what he was saying? Would she really rather be with him?

Of course she would, I just caused her pain and suffering. It was just enough with seeing the state in which she was in these moments.

"_I don't understand.… What do you mean, try again? You can't think Edward would let me… ? And what difference would it make? I'm sure any baby—"_

Bella was just thinking in trying it again... if it was with me. The smile spread inside of me.

"_Yes."_ Jacob interrupted her. What, yes? _"Any kid of his would be the same."_ Oh, I saw what he meant.

Bella's face, tired, without understanding yet, became even more confused of what already was. It didn't have sense for her what he was saying. _"What?"_

But Jacob couldn't say another word. What he had heard seemed to be enough to know that Bella would never agree. That it didn't have any point trying to save her. That he would never be able to save her from herself, that he had never been able to do it. Maybe he was right and I just had put him in a too difficult and painful situation for him. But I had to try. I had to do something, I couldn't just simply stayed sitting and watch her die.

Then Bella blinked, and in her eyes disappeared all doubt, all confusion. He had understood.

I held my breathing, I really did want to save her, but I didn't to lose her, both paths were impossible to put together and it hurt me. I waited for Bella to speak.

"_Oh. Ugh. Please, Jacob. You think I should kill my baby and replace it with some generic substitute? Artificial insemination?"_ Bella was completely furious, and I should imagined. I should imagined that that was what she would think, but it never crossed my mind that idea. But it also told me, again, that Bella didn't want another baby but ours. _"Why would I want to have some stranger's baby? I suppose it just doesn't make a difference? Any baby will do?"_

"_I didn't mean that. Not a stranger."_ Jacob murmured.

Bella got closer to him. _"Then what are you saying?"_

Jacob had backed out. He didn't want to do it. He didn't want to tell her, not anymore. _"Nothing. I'm saying nothing. Same as ever."_

"_Where did that come from?"_

I wondered for a second if Jacob would tell her that it had been my idea. But then I saw in his mind that he wouldn't. _"Forget it, Bella."_

knowing Bella, she wouldn't forget it. Her forehead wrinkled again, but not for the same reason, her eyes were showing now suspicion. And I could almost bet who was directed at. _"Did he tell you to say that?"_

I didn't got it wrong.

Jacob hesitated for a moment to answer her. More than anything surprised about the conclusion to which Bella had come so fast, as if all the time Bella were conscious that what he told or asked, came from my side, too. _"No."_

"_He did, didn't he?"_

Of course I would never ask her such thing, but maybe it would have been likely in her mind. With all the desperate that I looked, trying to find something to tell her, to offer her, to save her. But I couldn't.

"_No, really. He didn't say anything about artificial whatever."_

I saw how the face of my angel softened, quiet that that wasn't what nor me nor him were asking her. She let herself hell again into the cushions at her back, she looked exhausted. She hadn't been able to sleep since before Jacob had come, and the stress made her worse. Her eyes got distracted looking at one side, it was as if she was alone. When she spoke again, her tone was absent, she wasn't talking with him but with herself. _"He would do anything for me. And I'm hurting him so much.… But what is he_

_thinking? That I would trade this"_ her hand started drawing patterns over her stomach. Stroking it. Of course I didn't think that. I would never think that. _belly—"for some stranger's..."_ When I saw her expression, I cursed myself a thousand time inside out. I regretted that I had asked Jacob to talk to her, that I had offered him that. Bella would never leave me, I had known it, everyone had. She didn't finish saying the last part, it was barely a sigh. Her eyes were wet, tears about to fall down her cheeks. It broke my heart.

"_You don't have to hurt him."_ Jacob whispered. And I saw in his mind how much it cost him, it was almost as if begging for me burned his mouth like venom. Still, he knew that in that way it was more sure, it was his best bet, as he said, to keep her Alice. Though he was conscious that the possibility was very small. _Thousand-to-one_, he thought. _"You could make him happy again, Bella. And I really think he's losing it. Honestly, I do."_

Bella wasn't even looking at Jacob, her expression like absent. Her hand was doing small circles over her stomach. Jacob was thinking that Bella wasn't listening at him, but I knew very well that expression, she was focused in what he was saying, trying to listen beyond what she saw outside. She was chewing her lip, and for a moment I though that she would get an injury. The two of them stayed in silent for a long moment.

Jacob wondered if my family and I were far enough from the house so as to not listen to what was happening between them.

Then I had to agreed with him. They were a little pathetic his attempts to make her see sense. But maybe they would work, Bella didn't think in the same way as everyone else, that had put her into this situation, no normal human girl would have given her life for a monster.

I didn't have to turn and see my family, to know that they were still worried about me. I could see my face from six different angles. All of them were worried about me, and about Bella that was still inside with Jacob.

They didn't have any idea of what they were talking about, they didn't have to worry.

Bella finally spoke again. _"Not a stranger?"_ But her whisper was for herself. Jacob flinched when he listened at her asking. _"What exactly did Edward say to you?"_

Her voice was a whisper, it was as if she didn't care much about his answer. But she did care.

"_Nothing. He just thought you might listen to me."_

Jacob had misunderstood her question. Bella meant to trying again. He should had noticed it when she asked to herself about the stranger. _"Not that. About trying again."_

Bella turned to see him, determined to not take her eyes off his. Forcing him to answer her. But he didn't have to, Jacob said everything with his look and he realized it immediately that he had already said too much to be able to fool her.

Bella's mouth fell open with the shock. _"Wow."_

Neither of them said another word for a few more minutes. And if I would have been able, I would have even biting my nails from the anxious that I was. Jasper noted the change.

_Are you okay, Edward?_

I shook my head, telling him that it was nothing. My family also noticed the change, and everyone turned to see Jasper, knowing that he would know more than what I would say.

Jasper shrugged, because even he had felt the change in my emotions, he didn't know why.

"_He really would do anything, wouldn't he?"_ Bella whispered after a few minutes.

"_I told you he was going crazy. Literally, Bells."_

Literally and really. But what else could I have done? When not even this had worked, I could hear it in her voice.

"_I'm surprised you didn't tell on him right away. Get him in trouble."_

Jacob raised his look, and when he put it on Bella, she was grinning. As if nothing of this would be of importance.

As if what Jacob had offered her would have never gotten to her ears. She wasn't even going to consider it, Bella was not leaving me, she wasn't going to quit that monster. How could I had won the right to deserve at such a beautiful and brave angel? I hadn't. I had forced that right.

"_Thought about it."_ I could see that Jacob tried to smile back, but the smile stayed in just showing his lips half twisted.

Jacob confirmed what I already knew. That Bella knew what he was offering her, and that she wasn't going to think about it twice. That her answer was no, that made me happy and sad, it defeated me to know that there was no opportunity to save her, that everything was lost. That I would have to wait to they days to pass, to the minutes to run off and see her die in front of me.

No... I couldn't think that way. Bella was counting on me, she believed firmly that I would never let her die, and I wouldn't. Bella wouldn't die. I would find the way to save her, some way.

"_There isn't much you wouldn't do for me, either, is there? I really don't know why you bother. I don't deserve either of you."_

I still couldn't believe that Bella thought that neither of us deserved having her. Rather, that she didn't deserve that neither of us loved her. She had always seen it that way that someone loved her, but after all we had gone through for her... how couldn't she deserve me? It was me who didn't deserve her. It was me who should had left her make a life as human, I knew that I would have made it if I hadn't come back ever. Jacob would have made her happy.

"_It makes no difference, though, does it?"_

"_Not this time."_ Bella sighed before continuing. _"I wish I could explain it to you right so that you_

_would understand. I can't hurt him"_ she pointed at her stomach, meaning that thing. _"any more than I_

_could pick up a gun and shoot you. I love him."_

"_Why do you always have to love the wrong things, Bella?"_

Yes, I would love to know the answer to that, too. But Bella had never seen us as wrong things, like monsters, as what we really were.

"_I don't think I do."_

Jacob cleared a lump that he was feeling in this throat. To be able to make his voice sound harder, that was what he thought._ "Trust me."_

It had already been too much for him. He had given up faster than what I expected he would. But there was no reason to keep insisting, Bella wouldn't give up. She had already made her decision long time ago, not just about having that thing, but about being with me. She wasn't going to change her mind, she wasn't going to leave and go with him, so she could have a baby in a healthy way.

I knew I should be terrified, I should have been in that black hole again in which I had fallen in, but the love of Bella showed feeling to me, to sacrifice herself just to have that thing, that was ours, that she wished to have a real family at my side, to be mother of a child of mine, made me happy as I hadn't felt since weeks ago. It showed itself in my face, and Esme, unconsciously smiled at my side.

_It's been weeks since I saw him smiling._

Though my lips had barely twisted a bit, it was barely a recognizable smile in my face, that was what it was. A smile. How couldn't I smile, when I knew that Bella loved me more than anything in the world?

"Jacob's about to leave."

_About time!_

I saw him getting to his feet. About to leave, Bella outstretched her hand towards Jacob, reaching for his, begging. _"Don't go."_

I didn't understand, and would never understand how was that Bella kept rejecting Jacob in such a total way, completely, and still she longed for his company. It was as if she wanted to keep us both in her life. But it didn't seem to be as her husband and her best friend.

"_I don't belong here. I've got to get back."_

"_Why did you come today?"_ Bella asked, her hand still outstretched, trying to reach him.

"_Just to see if you were really alive. I didn't believe you were sick like Charlie said."_

Bella's eyes had a deep tone of skepticism, mixed with confusion. But it was so subtle, that I wasn't completely sure that that was what I was seeing in her eyes. Jacob couldn't recognize anything either, he didn't know I Bella believed it or not.

"_Will you come back again? Before . . ."_

"_I'm not going to hang around and watch you die, Bella."_

I flinched with Bella. I didn't want to believe that was going to happen. _"You're right, you're right. You should go."_

In that moment Bella got out his sight, and I could no longer saw her more. Now I saw the door.

"He's about to leave the house." I turned to see my family. "Five seconds most."

Everybody turned their eyes to the house, waiting for Jacob to come out and come back.

I heard Bella sighing the last words to him. _"Bye. Love you, Jake."_

When Bella told him this last thing, I heard how Jacob struggled to keep his eyes to the front, to not turn around and come back to her. To start begging again.

_But I knew that I had to quit Bella, quit her cold turkey, before she killed me, like she was going to kill him._

It was the last thing that I heard from him before he walked out through the door.

"_Sure, sure."_

When he crossed the door, his eyes didn't turn to the place where he and me had been talking. So he didn't see anyone of us waiting for him to leave the house. Rosalie immediately became alert, waiting for the appropriate moment to walk back to the house, to make sure that Bella was alright, that my words had been true.

Jacob kept walking straight ahead, ignoring his bike, that was in the middle of the lawn, thinking that it wasn't fast enough in that moment as he wanted.

_My dad would be freaked out—Sam, too. What would the pack make of the fact that they hadn't heard me phase? Would they think the Cullens got me before I'd had the chance?_

Jacob thought before getting into the forest, I saw before he did in his mind what he was planning, my family had their eyes on him, waiting for him to disappear into the forest.

"Don't look." Esme, Rosalie and Alice understood what I meant, and took away they eyes immediately.

They listened how Jacob's clothes got ripped off and changed his form. He hadn't care about someone might be staring at him, he started running as soon as he was in his wolf form. And his thoughts disappeared slowly while he ran away.

But before that, I could hear, how everyone from the wolf pack were relief to hear that Jacob was alive. Sam was furious. But I didn't have much time to keep listening, he ran very far and us came back immediately to the house, Bella was alone. Rosalie was the first one to walking into the house, she was also furious and at the beginning I didn't understand why. But when Rosalie had the image of Bella in her mind, she had her face covered with her hands. I heard her sobbing... she was crying.

_You see, idiot? See what you do. This is as bad for her as for the baby._

Her and her baby. It could die if it were possible.

I rushed to her side. I heard Emmett and Jasper telling Carlisle that they would go back upstairs and keep researching.

"You don't need us here, Carlisle. We better get back to search some information."

"Very well, sons. Go."

The two of them were upstairs in less than two seconds.

"Bella, are you okay? What's the matter? Did it hurt you that... Jacob?"

_He did her something, Edward._

Bella shook her head, she took off her hands from her face, wiping away some humidity left from the tears in her cheeks.

"I'm fine, Rose." She answered her, without taking her eyes from me. "But... I want to speak with Edward... alone."

"Of course not." Rosalie growled.

"You can be in the kitchen, or behind the door, I don't care. I just need to speak with him." she turned to see Rosalie. Her eyes begging. "Please. It'll just be a minute."

"Okay, we'll be in the kitchen."

_You better not upset her, Edward._

Rosalie warned me before disappearing through the kitchen door. Esme, Carlisle and Alice walked in before her.

I walked closer at a human pace at her side, and kneeled down in the floor. Her face was full of reproach.

"Bella-"

"Don't say anything."

I swallowed nothing, I didn't know what Bella would tell me. But it worried me that it would make her more ill discussing with me.

"Why did you do it?"

I lowered my look, I felt that at any moment, so much suffering and so much pain would make my eyes to shed tears again. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. What was I going to tell her? Better, how was I going to explain it to her?

Bella didn't wait for me to talk, she did it again.

"Edward, I understand why you did it, I do. But you knew what was going to be my answer."

I still didn't have the courage to turn my look back at her.

I knew that she was right, I had known since the very beginning that Bella would never agree to what Jacob asked her, I had just put him into a situation that just caused him pain. But I had had to try it.

"I had to do it, Bella. I had to find a way that you could get saved." I raised my look to her face, and all the reproach that I had seen in her eyes just a moment ago had disappeared. "I can't stand to see how that monst... how it hurts you. I can't, Bella, I can't."

Bella stayed silent for a long moment, she was trying to process what I had just told her.

"I know." She put one of her hands over my cheek. And she then placed it behind my neck, I felt how she exerted a minimal effort to pull towards her. To brought neared her face to mine, and I let myself be pulled to her. "But you know very well that who I loved and who I want to be with is you."

"You can't blame me for trying to save you from this ordeal, Bella."

Bella sighed, a few tears were starting to fall down her cheeks again.

"I know that I'm hurting you, but I also know that I'm going to live, that I'm going to walk away from this alive." she took one of my hands in hers, while she spoke. "And when we had our baby with us, when the storm's over, you'll see that all of this would have been worth it. I love you, and our baby, it's our child, Edward. Do you really believed that I was going to kill our baby and leave with Jacob?"

Her words, as before, sent new vibrations to my heart. They were the sweetest words that from her mouth I had heard.

The love in them was obvious, the love that felt for me, and even for that thing that was hurting her. It wasn't weird for me, Bella wasn't capable to feel hatred, just love.

"I love him because is your and mine. I'm not going to kill it."

She released my hand from hers, and put it over my other cheek, her hands were holding my face. I felt how she leaned closer to my face, and I leaned closer to hers, Bella didn't have strength to exert.

Her lips brushed mine, but before she could kiss me, she whispered. "I love you, Edward Cullen. Just you."

Her words were barely a whisper, even with my ears I had to strain so I could heard her words, her temperature had started raising again so fast and so suddenly that it scared me, drops of sweat got all her face wet immediately, her sweatshirt looked wet, too. And before I could react, Bella started coughing in such a violent way, her eyes didn't bear the tiredness anymore and closed, but she didn't stop coughing, her body seemed to be convulsing, Rosalie was at my side in a second, and Carlisle came downstairs quickly.

Everything seemed a nightmare, a nightmare from which we were never going to wake.

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	12. Chapter 11, EXTRA HELP

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Chapter 11. EXTRA HELP

"Rosalie, I think we should get Bella into the hospital bed. Now." Rosalie hissed, she wasn't happy at all with the idea of allowing Carlisle to introduce needles into Bella's body, not if she didn't know what they had.

_Of course not._

"I don't think that's possible, Carlisle."

"Rose, if we don't follow Bella's condition with more precision..." I made a big effort to try not to listen what Carlisle was thinking, but still. "Her state is deteriorating very fast, and if we don't a find to her system to not reject the nutrition that she needs..." he sighed, and everyone knew what he meant. And I could see it, and that made it worse.

In that moment Bella opened her eyes, with much difficulty. Her breathing was getting everytime harder, and her heart... her heart seemed that it would stop at any moment.

"What's wrong, Rose?" Bella could barely said, we all could see the great effort that she had to do for everything, to breathe, to speak, to blink, even to keep her eyes open, to keep herself enough awake to understand what was happening. Every one of her movements cost her a great effort.

"Carlisle believes that we should get you into the stretcher." _But I won't allow it._ I listened how she thought, full of reproach, she wasn't willing to risk that we did something to the fetus.

"Needles?" she turned to see me, there was in her eyes fear, irrational. How could she be afraid of needles in these moments? "No. I don't if..."

"Bella, we've got to do it. Your condition is deteriorating very fast. And we hope that your body accepts some of liquid or vitamins."

Carlisle began explaining both of them why he had to do it. It was nothing easy. He was starting to believe that he would just give up, but he also knew that he had to convince them, so he kept insisting. I stayed out of the arguing, I knew Bella wouldn't listen to me.

An hour later, Rosalie and Bella finally gave up, well, Rosalie did. She was the one who spent the entire hour discussing with Carlisle and with me, I couldn't believe how little she cared about Bella's life, but I found the perfect way to convince her. She couldn't refuse.

"Do you want Bella to die before that thing is in your arms? It's okay, then don't let Carlisle to take good care of her."

_Don't threaten me, Edward._ But there was a hesitance in her thoughts. _Fine._

"Alright, Carlisle. But if something happened to Bella, or the baby..."

"Rose, there's no way to get the baby out in these moments, without Bella... resulted harmed."

His thoughts had said another thing. Rosalie also understood, because if we did something to kill that thing, Bella would end as it. There was no way that we could do something, I wasn't going to allow that Bella... I didn't even want to think that it could happen.

Alice and Esme got all the furniture out of the room to give some space to all the equipment that Carlisle needed. It seemed another place, they put the stretcher in the middle of the room, monitors were taking care of ever chance in her body, and tubes in her body were trying to administrate some proteins to her system. Rosalie took her in her arms very softly to change her from the couch to the stretcher.

Bella had several minutes that she fallen asleep. She looked so beautiful, even when her face and all of the skin of her body had lost its glow, even when the blood that ran through her veins wasn't visible anymore under her skin, even when her heart was so weak that her beats was barely audible. I would never see in the world a person, a woman, an angel more beautiful that the one that I had in front of me in that moment.

I hadn't taken my eyes off of Bella, when I listened at Rosalie walking over, she was at my side in a blink.

_What the hell had you been thinking when you asked that dog to take Bella with him? See what the stress that it caused her? That's why she's like this, worse than before, Edward._

"I'm not going to talk about that." I answered flatly. I couldn't stand the idea that in my try to save her, Bella had gone more ill.

"Listen to me very well. This is the last time that I allowed myself to get separated by you from Bella. Do you understand?"

_I'm not allowing that you hurt neither of them, offering that dog to keep Bella._

"Rosalie..."

"No, Carlisle." Rosalie interrupted him, she turned to see him. "Edward just told Jacob that he could keep Bella if she killed her baby to go with him." her eyes returned to me. "You are truly an idiot if you though it was going to work."

Alice was the only one who didn't show any surprise, she already knew it. But Esme and Carlisle were too shocked to say anything. Even Emmett and Jasper couldn't believe what Rosalie had said.

_It can't be possible! Edward would never..._

_Edward, son?_ Carlisle spoke to me in his mind, waiting for an explanation. He wasn't demanding for one, he just wanted to know what I had been thinking when I did that.

Their reproaches, their surprise, their understanding, their fury, all of what I listened in their minds started being too much for me.

"Stop, stop." I told them, my head hanging, as if the strength that I had again had gone. I shook my head and exhaled. "It's the only thing that I came up with to save Bella. I had to do something, it's all I think about. I _can't_ allow that she died, I _can't _live without her. Is it that perhaps you don't understand? Rosalie?

_We've told you a thousand times that..._

"Yes, yes, yes. That she's not going to die, that's she would be safe. I know all of that. But I can't believe in it as you do. Just look at her." I pointed with my hand to her face, full of sweat, her forehead wrinkled, it was obvious what she was feeling in that moment.

Esme and Alice walked over me quietly. My eyes we still looking at the figure of Bella sleeping over the now stretcher. And without saying anything, for once, I felt every one of them putting a hand over each of my shoulders, there was nothing to say, they didn't know what to say to encourage me or to make me feel less desperate or miserable.

There were no words in the world that could make it.

Rosalie and Carlisle kept quiet too. None of them knew what to say, well, Rosalie didn't know what explanation to demand from me, after all she understood a little my suffering. Just a little.

After a few minute, Rosalie stood at the side of Bella, taking care of her all the while every movement that she or I made. Alice kept at my side for a while, but then she started to feel bad, I couldn't believe that she could feel something similar to a headache, but the fact that she was making such a big effort to see something, even when she knew she couldn't see anything, she kept trying. She spent most of the time upstairs with Jasper and Emmett.

She just waited a while before thinking that she could already leave in the company of Rosalie.

_I'm sorry, Edward. But it's really affecting me this thing of not seeing anything. I better go and see what I can help Jazz and Em with._

I nodded with my head, and whispered. Bella was asleep and none of us wanted to interrupt her sleep, it had been a while since she couldn't sleep. "It's okay, don't worry."

_Good luck with Rose._

I nodded again, I didn't feel like answering anything of that comment.

In less than a second, Alice was already upstairs with my brothers. Rosalie had turned the television on for a moment, she flicked through the available channels in less than two seconds and turned it off again, there was nothing that could hold her attention. Principally, because she didn't want to take her eyes off Bella, nor me.

My eyes never left the sleeping face of Bella.

It hadn't been even an hour since Jacob had abandoned the house all defeated. Bella had chosen me again and this time there was no doubt in her decision.

I still didn't know if her decision should or shouldn't make me happy. It should, maybe because it was my wife, the only woman in the world from who I once and always would be in love with, because I wanted to spend the rest of eternity at her side. It shouldn't, maybe because she was dying before my eyes, without being able to do anything to help her, to take away the suffering and pain that she was feeling because of my fault, because that thing wasn't satisfied with living inside her body, but it was killing her to live. It shouldn't, maybe just because if she survived this horrible nightmare, the only option to not die, rather, to keep existing would turn her into a vampire without delay, to allow that she lost her soul to give herself into the horrors of my world.

How had Bella come to such a horrible world?

It was all my fault, but there was no point in blaming myself now. There was no coming back, there wasn't a way to move back into time and stay away from her before all of this happened. If there was a way, I'd have found it, even when I knew that Bella truly loved me, that according to her, I was the best thing that had ever happened in her life, but if she didn't know me, better things'd wait for her, things that wouldn't make her ill, wouldn't expose her to death with just being with them...

As much as I begged myself to not think about all of that, I couldn't. As much as I wished to see just what was in front of us, and to not remember or regret my mistakes, I couldn't, because all of them and each one of them affected my beautiful angel.

Perhaps, very unlikely, a little light at the end of the tunnel was beginning to trying to shine the path, it told me that all of this would come out well at the end, that I had to wish it with all my might, and take care of Bella as I had never done before, to try harder to believe, to feel again in me hope, but it was so difficult, all positive emotion evaded me, it was like if I just could feel for an instant before I fell back again into that black hole. But having Bella in front of me, her face so quiet, as if nothing from the outside could hurt her with just knowing that I was taking care of her sleep... how could she still be trusting in me in such a total way, never doubting even a second?

I suddenly remembered the voice of Sam, furious when Jacob phased and he could hear him, and I wondered what had happened when all the pack heard Jacob's thoughts, I didn't believe that he was able to hide them, all his sadness, all his sorrow and above all his disappointment to haven't been able to help Bella as I had asked him, I'd told him that it was the only was to saving her...

What would the pack think of the fact that Bella was pregnant?

Staring at her face, I couldn't help but worry that they were going to against her pregnancy, they wouldn't the only ones, sure.

But what would they do if they were agreed?

This wasn't something that the treaty we had covered... we'd never, neither of nor them, imagined that something like this would happen someday, that a human would have a monster of our kind. Kaure, the woman from Brazil had said that these things should be murdered before they could murder their mother and other people...

Would the wolves think the same?

Would they consider a threat that thing, for not knowing what it was, or what was capable of?

We didn't know it, so they would know it already. They'd see it in Jacob, they'd listened to every one of my words, every one of Bella's. The protective attitude that Rosalie had over Bella and the fetus, how we all were taking care of Bella so she could have it, that was what she wanted, but we didn't have any idea of what it was, of what would be when was born. If it would be a reasonable people like us, or if it would as uncontrollable as those immortal children that the Volturi had forbidden.

Every second that passed and I kept thinking, I kept wondering what would it be that Sam and the other ones thought about Bella and that thing, I got tenser.

If they believed that it had to be destroyed... no, that wasn't possible. I believed it, but they wouldn't stop to take care that Bella's life wouldn't end in they effort to murder that monster inside of her. I would never allow it, neither my family nor myself would allow that any of them would get close to Bella and try to hurt her in their effort to take care of the people in danger because of that monster's fault.

I stopped thinking about it, perhaps they wouldn't do anything-they better won't, I thought- perhaps they'd think that there had to wait and see what was that thing. After all Bella was still human, and they protected humans, so I hoped they didn't try anything.

Even so, I called Carlisle, to comment him what I'd thought and see what he thought.

"Carlisle."

My father was at my side in a second, and Rosalie was even more aware of us than before.

"What is it, Edward? Bella?"

I shook my head, he was wondering that maybe something had happened to Bella, another bump or something else, he knew I tended to overreact, or so he thought.

"Bella's fine." I inhaled before continuing.

_Let's see what he comes up with now._ Rosalie was thinking.

No, we'd see what she thought, too. I knew that they weren't going to like to think that now would be, maybe, to take care of Bella, not just from me, but from the wolves.

"It's just that I was thinking in Jacob, and..." I didn't know how to phrase it, so I stopped a moment.

_What's wrong with the wolves, Edward?_

Rosalie was faster, her first priority was Bella, and she remembered that the wolves were here to take care of people, and she linked my tone and my words with worry. Worry for the wolves.

_You don't think they'd want to...?_ Rosalie asked, now a little bit more worried for my answer. She walked a bit closer to Bella in a protective way.

I didn't turn to see her, instead I kept talking. She'd hear my answer.

"It's just that I was wondering if, rather, what they'd think about Bella's pregnancy. You know, because of the treaty and, that we don't that thing is?"

_Oh, I understand._

"Well, they won't come any closer to Bella." Rosalie assured.

_Of course not, son._

"I know. I would never allow them to hurt her."

_None of us, Edward._

The conversation stayed up to that point, there wasn't much to say about, it had just been a doubt that I had been thinking from what little I could hear when Jacob phased and could listened at what Sam was thinking.

Carlisle stayed quiet for a moment with Rosalie and me in the room, wondering what should be done if it'd come out happening that way. When he got to a conclusion he voiced to us.

"I think we should go hunting. While we still can without danger to find face-to-face with the pack."

Yes, it was a good idea.

"Who'll go?" Rosalie asked, letting very clear that she wouldn't move.

"I think you two should go, you've got two weeks without hunting, Edward." he spoke to me, thinking that I might be a little more reasonable than Rosalie.

"I'm not moving away from Bella, I'm not leaving her alone."

Rosalie snorted. _And I am?_

"I'm not going, either."

"Be reasonable, you've got two weeks without hunting. How much longer are you going to wait?"

"Don't insist, Carlisle. I'm not moving from her side."

Rosalie didn't even bother to answering. She just shook her head and shrugged, taking importance from what Carlisle had said. In the family, Rosalie was the less reasonable.

_Fine. Then Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and I are going._ Carlisle thought, and I refused immediately.

I shook my head before he could call them.

"No, Carlisle. You can't take Jasper and Emmett with you, now more than ever I need them to be here."

I wasn't going to take any risks, if my suspect was fulfilled, if they came... we couldn't just be Rosalie and I, we couldn't protect her. They were ten wolves.

In that moment, the four of them, Esme and Alice, Jasper and Emmett came downstairs. They were a little confused.

_What's wrong, Edward?_

"Nothing, Alice. We just thought that it might be good for some of you to go hunting."

"Esme, Alice and I'll go, son. You four can stay here." He said pointing at Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie and I.

_Of course not. I'm not going._

"No, Carlisle. I'm staying." Alice asked.

_Fine, the more the best. Then, Esme and I'll come._

"Esme and I, then. It's decided."

"Just don't go too far."

_Sure. We'll be close-by, anything just call us at the cell phone._

I nodded, and Esme and Carlisle went through the door out. Alice, Jasper and Emmett were upstairs again.

It was getting darker, everything seemed the same that a moment ago. The house seemed to uninhabited, nor Rosalie nor I felt the need to turn some lamp on, neither upstairs was turned of some light, being unnecessary for us, and Bella sleeping.

I was focusing really hard in not thinking that the wolves would do something. Nothing against Bella, they protected humans, they weren't going to do anything at Bella.

My eyes rest for a second in Bella's stomach, that thing hadn't hurt her since Jacob had been here, it had left Bella to rest, that made me hate her less than before, though it didn't make me change my mind about it would be better to get it out of her.

The words of Bella resounded in my head.

_I won't kill him._

_It's not just having a baby. It's… well… this baby._

_So he's a little mystery. But I always see a boy in my head._

_He doesn't end lives, he saves them._

_Emergency vampirization._

_I guess you could call it faith._

_He's strong, that's all._

_Why would I want to have some stranger's baby?_

_I love him._

Everything was spinning around in my head, I didn't know what to believe, what to think, I didn't know anymore what I wanted. About one thing I was really sure, Bella wasn't going to die, I'd find some way to Bella got saved and had what she so much wanted, that thing, having it with her, and being at my side forever. Some way it'd work out.

_I don't belong here. I've got to get back._

The words of Jacob resounded in my head, I couldn't forget that he himself believed that Bella was really going to die. But it was my fault too, I had shown no hope at all, I still didn't know if I had the capacity to feeling it in those moments.

_I'm not going to hang around and watch you die, Bella._

I had believed that that had sounded very decided, that's why it seemed to me so weird hearing the sound of paws brushing the ground, running to the direction of our house. It wasn't just the sound of the pairs of paws of just one animal, but of the two animals. Then I heard it.

_Stop being so… Optimistic. It's getting on my nerves._ Jacob.

_No problem._ I listened at another voice answering, and the way in which it thought, the sound of its thoughts was no one else than Seth's. _You want me to be all doom and gloom, or just shut up?_

_Just shut up._

What were they doing here? I couldn't see the reason. They weren't thinking about it, so I could listen at nothing at all.

_Can do._

Rosalie saw the bewildered expression I had. _What's wrong?_

"I think Jacob and Seth are coming over here."

_What?_ Rosalie thought that our fears were coming true. _What do they want?_

_Really? Doesn't seem like it._

Emmett, Jasper and Alice came downstairs in that moment, they'd heard what I told Rosalie that Jacob and Seth were coming to the house.

"I don't why they're coming. I can't listen any of that."

Everyone became quiet for a moment. Jacob and Seth also became quiet, I saw how they crossed the road and got into the forest that surrounded our house. They were coming closer and Jacob was wondering if I could listen to them, there was certain nervousness in his tone. As if he was worried that they wouldn't get here in time. But in time for what?

_We come in peace._

Jacob started wondering if that was what he should be thinking.

_Go for it._ Seth answered him.

What was happening? I didn't understand. He weren't still thinking about what had brought him back, and with Seth this time, but they came in peace.

Why should they be thinking that way? Did he think we were going to attack him?

_Edward?_ I heard Seth asking, hesitating. _Edward, you there? Okay, now I feel kinda stupid._

_You sound stupid, too._

I didn't dare going out yet, I didn't want to leave Bella, I had to know first what was happening. And as if he knew Jacob thought.

_Think he can hear us?_

They were less than a mile out in that moment, and Jacob believed that it was now most surely that I could hear them. _I think so. Hey, Edward. If you can hear me—circle the wagons, bloodsucker. You've got a problem._

You've got a problem?

"Something's happening." I told my siblings.

_We've got a problem._ Seth corrected Jacob. Was that mean they were with us?

_What is it, Edward?_ Jasper and Emmett asked.

"I'm still not sure. But it seems they're coming to warn us."

I pointed with my head to get out to the porch, to wait for them to arrive.

"Rosalie, Alice, you wait here with Bella. We'll see what they want."

Both of them nodded, but their stances were protective. Waiting to see what will happen, what was the purpose for Jacob and Seth to be here.

Emmett, jasper and I were outside in less than a second.

Now we could hear them advancing to the house through the forest. It was just them like I had listened.

Emmett and Jasper were each to each of my sides. The house was still dark, then we saw them broke through the trees to the front lawn. Jacob noted the darkness that covered every corner of the house, but also noticed that it wasn't empty, the first one to get into his sight was me, and then he saw my brothers at my sides.

I still couldn't see the exact reason of their presence.

"Jacob? Seth? What's going on?" I asked, making sure that were they, and a little confused that they hadn't phased to humans.

Jacob stepped back a few steps when the smell coming from the house got to him, with the nose in his human form wasn't so strong and unbearable like with his wolf's nose. He felt as if it was really burning him, Seth whined quietly beside Jacob, hesitatingly, thinking that it hurt our feelings. But for us their smell wasn't so nice either. Seth stepped back with Jacob.

Jacob let me see inside his memories, thinking in what had happened and what had brought them up here, Seth at his side showed me the same and different, filling what Jacob didn't show me.

Then I saw Sam, furious, sticking out his hackles while he paced in circles, Paul and Jared behind him as if they were his shadow. At first the fury coming out of them seemed undefined, Jacob didn't have any idea what it was about, thinking that maybe they were upset with him for breaking the rules, to hadn't listened at him and had come to fight with me, he didn't care, he was just waiting to see what would they do with him. The confusion became one, all the pack didn't understand what was happening.

_How can this be? What will it be? Not safe. Dangerous._

_We can't allow it._

Then I saw Jacob sitting beside Seth, who was as confused and bewildered as Jacob was.

_The treaty does not cover this._

I saw Jacob trying to focus in what the pack was thinking, but he couldn't, he just saw the images which were worst fro him, the bruises in Bella, my face when we talked.

_Protecting Bella Swan._

_If they won't kill it, we have to._

_Protect our families._

_We have to kill it before it's too late._

My image appeared, when I was telling Jacob that that thing was growing, swiftly.

_If we catch them divided, we can take them down separately. It will increase our chances of victory._ The wold named Jared thought, starting to put together a plan to attack us.

Then I saw Jacob getting to his feet, Seth helped him. He was confused, he was barely starting to understand what was happening, he tried to stop it, to make them think better what would they do. But Sam wasn't agreed, thinking only in the safety of their families, remembering to the newborns with which they fought against at our side, thinking how that thing would be.

_They don't like it any more than we do._

Sam put the image of Rosalie, in a protective crouch over Bella, to answer to what he told.

_We won't allow a blood drinker to hunt on our lands._

Jacob howling. _She's human, too! Doesn't our protection apply to her?_

_She's dying anyway. We'll just shorten the process._ Leah thought, and I saw how Jacob threw himself over her, then Sam stopping him.

I couldn't believe that my worse fears were becoming true.

Then I saw all the strategy that it was supposed to had been used if it wasn't because Jacob and Seth refused to follow his orders.

_Unnatural. Monstrous. An abomination._

Jacob stopped when he remembered those words.

It was too much. One thing was that I was conscious of what that thing was. But another thing very different, was they wanted to try murdering not just that monster but Bella, too. I wasn't going to allow that to happen.

I was furious as I hadn't felt in the last few weeks, not even against Rosalie. I listened how a hiss came out of my mouth, and leaped off the porch to the lawn. Jacob stopped, and the images, too.

Emmett and Jasper became alert immediately. Waiting to see what was happening, what to do.

"They want to kill Bella?" I growled, but my words sounded more like a statement than like a question.

_We'll kill them first._ Jasper thought. Emmett wasn't far from disagreeing. The two of them were at my side in a second, thinking that my words were meant for Jacob and Seth. Their teeth exposed, ready to attack, they were starting to move towards them.

_Hey, now._ Seth thought, while stepping back a bit more. A little scared.

"Em, Jazz—not them! The others. The pack is coming."

Oh, sorry. _We thought... _Emmett and Jasper apologized in their minds. They stopped their advance over them. Emmett turned to see me, I could see from Jacob and Seth that Jasper wasn't taking off his look from them, watching every one of their moves. He never trusted wolves much.

"What's their problem?" Emmett asked.

What else was going to be?

"The same one as mine." I answered in a hiss, remembering what Jacob and Seth had just showed me a moment ago. "But they have their own plan to handle it. Get the others. Call Carlisle! He and Esme have to get back here now."

Jacob whines when he listened what I had just told, remembering that the pack thought that it would be better if they found us divided.

"They aren't far." I assured Jacob. But he heard how he notices the change in my voice, how he listened at it just as dead as a few moments ago.

_I'm going to go take a look. Run the western perimeter._ I listened at Seth thinking. And got worried for him. The pack wasn't surely happy with what Jacob and Seth had left them to come and warn us. They would consider it betrayal. And he was just a kid.

"Will you be in danger, Seth?"

Jacob and him exchanged a look. Considering my question.

_Don't think so._ They thought at the same time. Jacob doubted a moment, and added._ And then I added, But maybe I should go. Just in case…_

_They'll be less likely to challenge me, Seth pointed out. I'm just a kid to them._

_You're just a kid to me, kid._ Jacob told him, and I agreed with him. How old was he? Fifteen?

_I'm outta here. You need to coordinate with the Cullens._

Seth wheeled to the forest and got running, soon he was out of my reach. But I still could hear him from Jacob.

He let him go, not wanting to order him to come back. He was still thinking that they weren't a new pack, he wasn't going to let Seth see him as the Alpha.

"Yes, Carlisle. It seems that the pack wants to take care of the Bella's baby. They want to kill them. You have to come back. Now."

"_It's not possible. But who warned you? Jacob?"_ I listened at Carlisle asking, his words sounding in Emmett's mind.

"Yes, he did. Jacob and Seth are here. Well, Seth just left to run the perimeter. But it's better if you come back."

"_We're coming back right now. I'll see you in a few minutes."_

"Sure. Just that..."

They kept talking but I couldn't listen anymore. I was watching everything from Jacob's mind.

Jasper still had his eyes on them, now he was watching the exact place for where Seth had disappeared.

_Are you sure we can trust in them, Edward?_ He asked, but I didn't answer. Of course I was sure. I saw it in their minds, and he should felt the honesty in their words.

We listened at Alice's footsteps walking out to the porch, she had gotten anxious when she listened to our conversation. Rosalie'd asked her to come out and see what was happening. Bella was still asleep, she didn't have any idea of the danger in which she was now.

Alice kept stood in the porch for a moment, analyzing our stances and expressions. She looked for a long moment at Jacob, her eyes anxious.

_What's going to happen? Agh, I can't see anything._

She noticed the stance in which was Jasper was, she knew him better than anyone of course, and rushed to his side.

I was thinking in what would have happened if Jacob hadn't decided to give his back to the pack and come to warn us about what the pack was planning to do. Attack us tonight, and kill that monster with Bella, too. It would've been a very tiny possibility that we could've protected her, we were just five in this moment and they ten. They had advantage over us. And my ability to read minds wouldn't have been useful, we wouldn't have been able to get Bella out before they came, and it would've been only worse.

"This isn't the first time I've owed you my gratitude, Jacob. I would never have asked for this from you." I barely whispered, my eyes on him.

_Jacob, you have to do something for me. You can offer her what she wants. If it's a child she wants, she can have it. She can have puppies, if that's what it takes._

He remembered what I had asked him this afternoon, thinking that when it was about Bella, there were no lines that I wouldn't cross.

_Yeah, you would._

It was true, while it was about saving Bella I didn't care what lines I would have to cross, what I would have to give or to do, what I had to sacrifice just to save Bella.

How was I going to deny it? He was the best proof of that.

I nodded, and said. "I suppose you're right about that."

Jacob sighed heavily, and thought. _Well, this isn't the first time that I didn't do it for you._

"Right." I murmured. His priority was also Bella. As much as it was mine. He would never allow that anyone wanted to hurt Bella, either.

_Sorry I didn't do any good today. Told you she wouldn't listen to me._

"I know. I never really believed she would. But..."

_You had to try. _Jacob interrupted me. _I get it. She any better?_

In my voice and in my eyes could be seen the pain that his question caused me, rather, to not be able to answer as we both wanted to hear. Bella was sleeping, but her state wasn't getting any better even a little bit. Every was getting... "Worse."

Jacob felt that if he let that word to affect him it was going to be worse for him, and in those moments we had to be focused. So when Alice spoke, he felt grateful with her. Because of the distraction it would come.

"Jacob, would you mind switching forms? I want to know what's going on."

He shook his head, and I answered to Alice. It didn't have any point of him switching forms anyway. Alice wouldn't be able to see nothing. "He needs to stay linked to Seth."

_Fine..._

"Well, then would you be so kind as to tell me what's happening?"

"The pack thinks Bella's become a problem. They foresee potential danger from the… from what she's carrying. They feel it's their duty to remove that danger. Jacob and Seth disbanded from the pack to warn us. The rest are planning to attack tonight."

_What!?_ Alice hissed, leaning away from Jacob.

Emmett and Jasper exchanged a look, and started searching with their eyes around the forest.

_We'll have to be very alert tonight._

_Good thing that Carlisle and Esme are coming back._

They heard a noise coming from the forest, and the two of them searched the place where it was coming from. It was Seth.

_Nobody out here. All's quiet on the western front._

_They may go around._

_I'll make a loop._

"Carlisle and Esme are on their way. Twenty minutes, tops."

_We'll be ready, Edward. With their help it'll be easier._

"We should take up a defensive position." Jasper said, already thinking in how would be the best way to be ready in case they attacked tonight.

I nodded, if we had to do it. But I wanted to be inside of the house, have Bella in my sight, besides Rosalie also had to know about it. "Let's get inside."

_I'll run perimeter with Seth. If I get too far for you to hear my head, listen for my howl._

"I will." I answered him, and everybody walked back to the house.

I could read all the anxiety they were feeling, knowing now that my fears had become true. I had feared that this were going to happen when the pack read his thoughts, it was something almost obvious, predictable. He wasn't going to allow that an out-of-control, unreasonable vampire because of the age, were loose somewhere killing innocents. It wasn't as if we were going to allow it either, but to compare the behavior of the newborns with the possible behavior of a baby. There would be no way to make it listen logic.

Before we were inside of the house, I listened at Jacob running away to the west. Probably they would run into Carlisle and Esme if they were in the right place.

Rosalie put her eyes over us immediately, she had heard all the conversation, but she wasn't well informed about what had happened. Neither my brothers. I was the only one who had seen every one of their words in the mind of Jacob and Seth.

_What happened, Edward?_ She asked me, not wanting to say it out loud so she didn't wake Bella.

I barely whispered the words. "As you listened. The pack thinks that... what Bella is carrying is a danger that they shouldn't take. They want to get rid of it, of... both of them."

"Both? You mean that...?"

"Bella, too."

Rosalie growled when she heard me, there was no surprise in her thoughts, just fury, and decision. She wasn't going to allow that anyone came close to Bella. As if I was going to.

"How's Bella?"

Rosalie remembered a moment, in which Bella was like choking, struggling to breathe. Her heart had raced a moment much more than normal. She had truly worried, but she couldn't do anything, Bella got asleep again as quietly as a moment before. But her face still showed signs of stress, and pain.

I nodded, and walked close to where they were.

"Carlisle will be here soon. He had to check her for what I see, Rosalie."

_You're right. I think Carlisle should check her._

"What about the wolves?" _Jacob and Seth._

Jasper asked, he wanted to know everything so he could start to coordinate the family, before Carlisle and Esme arrived, the best would be to have a plan as soon as possible.

"Jacob went to catch up with Seth. To run the perimeter. Be pending of the pack to let us know."

_Sure. I think we all should be together. With Jacob and Seth on our side were even. It'll be more difficult that they attacked us with advantage._

"We are not killing any of them, Jasper." I didn't even turn to see him. I couldn't take my eyes off Bella, watching for some change. "We are trying that this will not get into a fight."

_I doubt that they're coming to reason with us._

"No, they're not. Although Jacob and Seth are on our side, they're not going to allow that any of them get hurt, don't you think?"

_Right. We better wait for Carlisle and Esme to come back. Emmett and I'll be watching and on the alert for any noise._

"Emmett? Let's go to the front."

Emmett nodded, a little excited to start doing something more exciting that being sitting in front of a computer looking for information.

The two of them disappeared in a blink. I could heard their thoughts, though they didn't want that a fight occurred between the pack and our family, the two were excited with the possibility of finally fighting against the wolves.

Alice sat at my side. Rosalie was in front of us, her eyes on Bella.

_Do you think they'll attack tonight?_

I shook my head. "No, I don't. Perhaps they'll have to do a new plan, now that they don't have two members of the pack. That left them with eight wolves, and us with two and seven of us. They're in disadvantage."

Alice sighed, a little relieved.

_I really expect they won't. I wouldn't like to know how Bella would get if that might happened._

I didn't like very much to thing in how Bella would react before a situation like the one we were in danger to face, if just a tiny arguing between Rosalie and me made her ill...

_This is all fault of that dog, if he hadn't come, Edward..._

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is, Rosalie. It's too late, and they would have found out some way."

Rosalie snorted, bothered with they way in which I still defended the wolves. Well, the two ones had quit the pack to come and _save_ us, there was no other word. If they hadn't quit, we would have been lost perhaps. The disadvantage would have been ours. I didn't even want to imagine what they would have done to Bella... no, just remembering what I had seen in the mind of Jacob and Seth, hearing to Sam planning they way in which they would attack us, they way in which they would get rid of that thing, that Bella would end up as it... I felt an incomparable fury, I felt like getting out of there running and murder them with my own hands, but I wouldn't. Jacob and Seth would suffer as we would have if they had reached their goal.

I could listen again the voice of them, they were close-by the house. It had been fifteen minutes since they had left to run the perimeter. I also could hear to Carlisle and Esme getting closer rapidly to the house. Seth listened at the sound that made their footsteps on the ground, and got alarmed. I didn't have a way to tell them that it was just Carlisle and Esme.

_Hey—something coming up fast!_ I heard him telling Jacob.

_On my way!_ Jacob answered him, worried for what could be, the pack most surely. Seth had another idea.

_Hold your position—I don't think it's the pack. It sounds different._

I could hear with more clarity the sound of their minds. They were closer.

_Seth-_

I read how Jacob caught the scent that was in the breeze when Seth smelled it.

_Vampire. Bet it's Carlisle._

_Seth, fall back. It might be someone else._

_No, it's them. I recognize the scent. Hold up, I'm going to phase to explain it to them._

_Seth, I don't think—_

But Seth had already phased back, so Jacob couldn't hear him anymore. Carlisle and Esme were so close to the house already that I could hear their thoughts.

"_Seth? What you're doing here?"_

"_Oh, Carlisle, Esme. I was running the perimeter and heard you. Just wanted to explain you."_

"_Of course, Seth. What's going on? Emmett just told us that you had split from the pack, that they wanted to kill Bella and the baby."_

Seth hand his head, a little embarrassed for what was happening. Ashamed to think that he had been about to help with that.

_Yeah. They think it's a danger, because we don't know what it is. But Jacob and I are watching the surroundings, in case they attack tonight as they planned. We'll let you know if we see them."_

Carlisle nodded. Grateful for what they were doing. _"Thanks, Seth."_

Seth just shrugged. _"It's nothing. We couldn't allow them to attack you."_

"_Thank you so much, Seth. And if you need anything, just call us."_ Esme smiled at him warmly.

They said goodbye to each other. It had just took them two minutes, and Jacob felt relieved when he listened at Seth again. He had been thinking in what Leah, Seth's sister would have done to him if something happened to her brother under the protection of Jacob. It was barely the first day, rather hours, that he had to take care of him, and that something happened to him would be something bad.

Carlisle and Esme walked into the house in that moment, and Jacob's and Seth's thoughts went to second place. We had to coordinate everyone. There was no time to waste.

Rosalie spoke before I did.

"Carlisle, I think you should check Bella. She doesn't look very well."

He sighed before walking towards us. Alice moved aside, and went Esme's side.

After a few seconds, his face became more tired. His thoughts weren't very encouraging.

"She's getting worse faster than I thought she was. The fetus is starving to death, same as Bella is. Her system is simply rejecting all nutrition."

He shook his head, as if he didn't want to even think that what he had just said was true. As if he wished that he could give us another diagnostic. I wished it too.

"What are we going to do?" Rosalie asked, her voice full of anxiety.

"I've no idea, Rose. I don't know what else we can do. I can't fin what they fetus wants." he wiped a hand over his forehead, and then was back towards Bella. "The temperature doesn't want to give in, either. I'm really concerned."

We kept in silence for a moment, the only sounds in the room were the broken breathing of Bella, the forced beats of her heart, the monitors that were now working strapped to her...

Jasper and Emmett came back in that moment.

_I'm sorry, Edward. I know this isn't the best moment, but we have to talk about the possible attack._

"I know. You do it."

Jasper nodded.

"What is it, Jasper?"

"Nothing, I just think that we have to be ready in case that they pack decide to attack tonight."

"Sure. Right. What you're planning?"

_Should I close the wall, Edward? It might be safer... for Bella, of course._

I nodded, and saw Esme walking to the wall and push the button. The sound that caused didn't even made Bella to open her eyes.

I had my mind elsewhere, it was weird when my mind didn't listen to what the other ones were thinking. But I was too much busy thinking in what Carlisle had said, as he had seen the state in which Bella was, how she was getting worse every minute that was passing. How perhaps would be too much for her before that thing could come out of her body...

A howl interrupted my thoughts, and my body stiffened. I remembered the words of Jacob, but if I wasn't wrong that wasn't the howl of Jacob, I had heard it before, and Seth's too. But...

My noticed the change, specially Jasper.

_What's wrong, Edward?_

"Wait, it's Seth howling. It might not be the pack..."

I walked over the window, waiting to see some sign of Jacob or Seth, waiting to hear something that they had to tell me.

_False alarm, false alarm. _I listened at Jacob thinking, while his thoughts became closer. _Sorry. Seth is young. He forgets things. No one's attacking. False alarm._

Then I saw Jacob ran into the lawn, his eyes rest quickly on my face as soon as he saw me. He kept running until he was completely inside, waiting that I had heard his message,

_There's nothing out there—you got that?_

I had suspected it. It was Seth who had howled not him.

I nodded once with my head.

_This would be a lot easier if the communication wasn't one way._

Jacob thought, and backed out. Remembering all of what I was going through, and felt something close to happy knowing that he wasn't inside my head. He didn't have any idea of how lucky he was, not being inside my head, if he thought that his had problems, mine was full of problems. But the only thing that I couldn't stand was every image of Bella, every memory where I saw the exact times in which I had provoked her pain, her image when I walked into that ballet studio two years ago, bathed in blood, her face and voice drowned in pain because of the venom running through her veins, the day that I decided to make the mistake-the biggest one when I then believed it was that-to leave Bella, the images that the same Jacob and Charlie showed me of those six terrible months, her face everytime that than thing hit her from the inside, every scream of pain, every gasp...

I listened to Bella shivering, her face was still full with sweat, and showing signs of pain. I shuddered, thinking in what had happened. It was nothing to worry about, not too much, not so much as to tell Jacob. Bella was still the same. So when I noticed that he saw my reaction, I just waved him that it was nothing, that he could go. Without turning to see him, I moved to Bella's side immediately.

_What was it, Edward? Why the howling?_

Everyone had jumped to the worst conclusion, even when I had asked them to wait, that Jacob had told me that it would be him who warn us, and who I had heard had been Seth.

_What's going on?_ I heard at the same time that Jasper, to Jacob asking.

I listened Jacob sitting down in the same place where I had seen him a moment ago, thinking that with his ears in wolf for he could hear much more. Like I hadn't answered him, he would be attentive hearing to what was happening inside of the house.

"It was a false alarm. Seth was upset about something else, and he forgot we were listening for a signal. He's very young."

_Great! Worrying for nothing._

"Nice to have toddlers guarding the fort."

"They've done us a great service tonight, Emmett." Carlisle told him, a slight reproachful tone for Emmett's words. "At great personal sacrifice."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just jealous. Wish I was out there."

I saw what was worrying Emmett. That the pack were going to fool Jacob or Seth and they would pass them without them noticing it. He didn't want us to be taken by surprise.

"Seth doesn't think Sam will attack now. Not with us forewarned, and lacking two members of the pack."

"What does Jacob think?" Carlisle asked me, thinking that Jacob might had a different idea to Seth's.

"He's not as optimistic."

_So there are possibilities that they attack..._

I didn't answer to anything, everyone became silent. Jasper and Alice had gone upstairs again, watching to hear any strange noise, something that told us that the pack was coming.

Emmett was at Rosalie's side, watching that she didn't need anything. Like help to take care of Bella from someone or something did something to her lovely wife didn't want. Rosalie had her eyes on Bella, and Emmett on me, it was annoying to always have a pair of eyes over me, as if they were waiting me to throw myself over Bella's stomach and get that thing out with my own hands if I saw them unprepared.

Carlisle was still examining Bella. Checking her breathing, the beats of her heart, that the temperature was finally giving in. Nothing had changed, her system was still rejecting any kind of nutrition that we tried to give her.

In those moments, I felt as if her time was running off as in an hourglass.

I felt how that man that I had been this morning, when Jacob had been here, came back. As if it had never been gone, because in truth it had never. It had just been as if all the pain had been encapsulated, as if they had given me a rest for them to get bigger and ran every part of my body, of my mind. I was in that hole again. There was nothing else than pain, nothing else. I couldn't even feel anxious to think about the pack, or furious with them that they had thought and almost tried to come and kill the reason of my existence. I myself had caused that Bella were dying, perhaps they wouldn't even need to make the dirty job, I had done it myself already. Bella was getting better, every minute she came closer to her ending. Every minuted we came closer.

Her breathing became harder, almost violent, her lungs were working too much for the air that she breathed to allow her keep living, forced. I didn't want to think what would happen if it got too much and they stopped working. Her heart worried me much more, it stopped and broke in different rhythms, like I listened at Jacob thinking, it was her vital organ, and the one who was working the hardest to keep Bella alive. There was no sign at all of those heartbeats that I loved so much, these ones scared me to hear at. It was like if at any moment, I wouldn't listen to them anymore. And that terrified immensely.

More sweat fell down her face, her eyebrows almost touched, her forehead full of lines... the sweat kept falling down her cheeks, her hair was damp, there wasn't even need to tie it so it didn't fall over her face. Her hands were over her stomach, as if she was feeling pain... it was surely like that, what else would it cause her pain? She was cuddled up in the stretcher, almost in fetal position.

It was the worst image than my mind had registered, and I would have to live with the pain to had caused her so much damage to Bella, through all my existence I would have etched that memory, all eternity to suffer if Bella didn't survive, and see her that way told me that she wouldn't.

Carlisle saw my face, remembering the same as Jacob. The pain that I could only show, that could only be seen when Bella wasn't looking at, when seeing me in this state would make her more ill. My father knew immediately what had me that way, I thought in getting closer to Bella, check her temperature or to do something so I was able to do make Bella felt better. I didn't have much hope to help her, not in that moment.

Rosalie had her eyes in Bella's face. When she saw that Carlisle was starting to stretch his hand towards Bella's face, to check her temperature, Rosalie reacted.

_Oh no, you're not touching her._

"Don't touch her! You'll wake her up."

_She's got to sleep. She hadn't slept, and needs to rest, both need rest._

Carlisle sighed,

_I can't do much if Rosalie won't let me treat her._

"Rosalie."

Carlisle talked to her in a tone that begged her for a little cooperation. But she wasn't going to change her mind, seeing her so sick had made her protective side to grow and get worse.

"Don't start with me, Carlisle. We let you have your way earlier, but that's all we're allowing."

Rosalie had started to talk as if Bella and were the same one, that in those moments was almost that way. Everything about the health of the fetus and Bella, was decided between the two of them. Jacob also noticed the way in which Rosalie spoke.

_Like they'd formed a pack of their own._

It was almost that way. But, of course, Jacob didn't know how they solved the things Rosalie and Bella. How Rosalie took care of every thing, how Bella allowed that she worried more for the fetus than for herself. How she didn't care at all her life, while the monster lived.

I listened at Jacob beginning to pace quietly in front the house, I listened how every step he took brought him closer to the house. Everyone else was to aware of Bella or watching out any strange sound that meant that the pack was coming, that they weren't realizing that Jacob was still outside. For Jacob it was as if the dark windows from the house, the light wasn't one, Bella was still asleep, and we didn't need it, were like a television turned on in some boring room, it was impossible for him to take away his eyes. Not for very long.

It passed a few minutes, and I kept listening at Jacob walking over the house, I listened at him thinking that he was already touching the porch of the house with his fur. He had walked over step by step, until he made getting to exact place where he could see and know what I hadn't told him.

From his mind I could see how he could already see through the dark windows up to the ceiling inside of the house, how he saw seeing the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He just had to lean up a little to be able to see the room and not the ceiling. He was thinking that in his wolf form he was tall enough as to just have to stretch his neck and see to the inside of the house, he could also put one of his paws at the edge of the porch to stretch a little more.

I saw how he peeked into the room, in his mind I saw two different rooms, the first one was the same one that had been this afternoon when he were talking to Bella, with the couch and all of the furniture inside of it, and the other one was the one he was looking at in the moment. His mind was full of confusion because of the big change inside of the house, as if he had gotten the wrong place, and the one he was looking for was somewhere else he didn't know about.

I wished it had all been a mistake, that Bella wouldn't have needed of a so radical change, that we wouldn't have needed to turn the room in a hospital room. She was getting worse, her eyes still didn't open. It almost scared me to thing that I wouldn't see again her chocolate brown eyes.

Then I listened how he compared the way in which now it looked the room, I looked it over again from his mind. How he looked that the glass wall wasn't anymore, that now it seemed metal. It just that it didn't seem, it was really metal. Bella had just seen it once, two years ago when we were getting ready to escape from James. He looked over the room watching that all the furniture he had seen before weren't here anymore, what was now here it was a bed in which Bella was laid in a awkward way, in a narrow bed in the middle of the open space that was now the room. He noticed that it wasn't a normal bed but a bed with rails as the ones you found in hospitals. Then his look followed the monitors, the same ones from the hospitals, that were strapped to her body, the tubes that were stuck into her skin. His eyes went to the lights that were shining from the monitors, without sound, he didn't hear anything. The sound he had heard before and hadn't been able to know what it was, the liquid dripping was the IV connected in her arm-a fluid that was thick and white, not clear as he expected.

I couldn't keep listening to what Jacob was thinking, though I knew that it was the same thing that I was looking with my own eyes. Bella choked a little in her dream, and I immediately moved to her side, trying to see a way to help her, though I knew there wasn't much that I could do. Rosalie moved at the same time that I did, also looking what had bothered Bella. But there was nothing that we could take from her.

Her body jerked, and he listened at her whimpering. Like a whine. Something was hurting her, something hurt her and I couldn't do anything else but to be stood in front of her without being able to help her. Without being able to relieve her pain... I saw Rosalie's hand moving to her forehead, she caressed Bella, thinking in that thing.

_Don't worry, Bella. Our baby's fine. He'll be fine. We'll find a way to help you._

I felt how my back stiffened when I heard what Rosalie was thinking, it was easy, so lovely to that monster, it worried her more that thing than that Bella were dying.

I felt that at any moment I would fall into my knees, defeated. The pain was too much. I felt myself being dragged by stronger forces into that black hole.

Emmett felt then change in my face, he clearly saw how I was about to let myself give up, how the pain was finishing with before time, without allowing myself to think in Bella, to think that I had to be strong for her, to be at her side until the last second. Btu it was so strong the pain that it caused me to see that way... and Rosalie just thinking in that thing.

_No, Edward. Please brother, you've got to be strong._

Emmett told me, he got between Rosalie and I in less than what it lasts a blink. His hands up, stopping me.

"Not tonight, Edward. We've got other things to worry about."

_Remember, we've got to protect Bella. You've got to stay focus._

I didn't stand all the comprehension that I was reading in their thoughts, to think that now I had to protect Bella from other monster after her. To see my face in their minds.

I turned my back without thinking, without remembering that Jacob was still watching to the same place from where I wanted Bella to escape, from where I didn't want them to see me suffering for her pain, for our pain. All her pain was mine, it was more than what any person could bear.

My eyes found Jacob's for a moment, he realized, when seeing my face again, how I was coming to be the same from this morning again. The same burning man that I had been. For Jacob had also been too much to see all this scene, to see how Bella had gotten worse, to see how my face had come to be that one so hard for him to see again. He dropped to his paws again.

I listened at him getting away, running into the forest again, to met Seth. Escaping from what he was leaving behind him.

_Worse. Yes, she was worse._ It was the last thing that I listened from him.

It wasn't just that...

Bella was dying in front of my eyes.

I knew I shouldn't take my eyes off her face, I knew that I must always have her in my sight, I couldn't be without her much time, I couldn't stay away from her. Though having her in that state caused me an indescribable pain, to hear that she still breathed, that her heart still beat, told me that it wasn't over yet, that Bella was still at my side, that there was an opportunity to keep her at my side yet, that I wouldn't let her die.

I turned back, and her slowly opened. And when her eyes met mine, a tiny smile, just her lips slightly twisted towards me.

The hope and the trust in her eyes told me that were going to make it, some way or another.

Bella was going to live.

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	13. Chapter 12, HOPE

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Chapter 12. HOPE

Not everything was as good as one wishes to be, but once the voice of an angel had said to me: _Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair_. I remembered that morning perfectly when the voice of my angel had said it to me. I did think that life had been unjust, not only with me but with many people around me, this was the moment in which I more thought that life went beyond being unjust. It was the cruel destiny that had put us such a big stone in the path, had made us tripped so many times since Bella and I had fallen in love, that it seemed almost impossible that two people had suffered so much in so a short time.

And although Bella wouldn't accept it, it knew that she was suffering because of my fault, because I hadn't been sufficiently strong to let her go and be happy with someone normal, with someone with who she didn't have to die and to lose her soul in exchange for being with him.

But how was I going to let fly this angel far from me, if it was almost as if she herself had broken the wings not to move away from me?

The idea to think, to know that Bella was willing to anything just to be with me, no longer excited me or made happy as it had before. That wasn't the case anymore, Bella was letting herself die to give life to that monster, to our _child_. There was no more truth than that, because even when I hated it like I hadn't hated anyone before, it was my creation, I had made that thing entered her body to feed itself and to grow within her, to then to kill her.

It was as if being with me no longer mattered to her. But that wasn't true, either. Because Bella was completely sure that she would survive this, and that she would spend the rest of eternity at my side and that thing's.

So, how could I think that Bella didn't love me anymore or wasn't willing to spend her days at my side anymore, when she was doing it for me?

I had become tired to trying to reason with Bella, she was as stubborn as I was. It didn't help either that Rosalie was always to her side, making my words to not provide the wished effect.

Bella was dying, and my mind simply didn't give me the answer that I wanted.

How to save her?

I had tried everything, I had begged to her, and even demanded that she let us remove that thing from her stomach, and she had refused totally. The divorce I had offered her, her freedom to remake her life with which could give her a child without dying in the attempt. I had even decided giving her to Jacob, to let her go away with him, and to be happy at his side as I would never make her. Everything had been in vain, each one of my attempts had failed completely. Simply there was no way to convince her, to make understand her that this wasn't going to any happy ending. Nothing worked.

So after each attempt, my hope to save her disappeared even more. I didn't see the way to feel that feeling within me again, not while Bella kept getting worse instead of improving, to see her more healthful, even just a little bit. Not even seeing that it continued trusting that she would live, let me feel just like she felt.

I only had one thing left at those moments, the sound of her heart still beating, and… it cost to me a lot of hard work to accept what she would do, to give up, and just stay at her side, to be strong for her, and to make this less difficult. Not allowing to see how much it affected me the truth of the situation. I saw it in Carlisle, and his sorrow for not finding something that helped Bella. In Esme, she was losing the confidence that she had had at the beginning when she decided to support Bella and Rosalie in this madness, whenever she saw her getting more ill, she regretted it more, but it was already too late.

Too late… I couldn't think of that way. There must be something we weren't seeing, something obvious that was escaping our logic. But I couldn't find it, no matter how hard I tried.

It was exasperating how my emotions changed from a moment to another one so easily. A moment I was sure that Bella would live, and another I found myself caught in that darkness that didn't let me see, that it destroyed me thinking that Bella was on the verge of dying.

I didn't know what to think, or what to believe most of the time.

I only wished to be able to give her what Bella wanted, to live and to have that thing in her arms. But I didn't see the way to make it.

How could I hope that Bella made it, when Carlisle already thought the opposite?

He was so worried about the way in which Bella was deteriorating, the way in which her heart was working so hard that he thought that it wouldn't bear the change. The poison could save her, whenever her heart was sufficiently strong, and at those moments, it was weaker than how it should be.

The agony was ending me, the pain was becoming even more unbearable. That thing hadn't beaten Bella, of course not, it was as Bella or weaker than she was. Both were dying. There was nothing else in Bella that that thing could take to feed itself and continue living. Bella couldn't eat anything, her system continued rejecting any thing that meant nutrition for her body.

I couldn't imagine what it was that that thing wanted.

And to not be able to imagine it, was costing Bella her own life. None of us had any idea of what it was that it wanted, so we couldn't do anything about it. Emmett and Jasper were still researching, and kept finding nothing to help.

Even Rosalie was getting worried about Bella, she was starting to wonder if they would make it after all. When my eyes turned to her when I listened at her, though, she changed her tone into a more hopeful one. But she didn't fool me. Alice was suffering as much as I was, from the family, she was the one who loved Bella more, she had loved her since before I knew that I loved her, and seeing her that way broke her heart in pieces. Jasper was also suffering, and just because for all the tension that he felt from us, or because my pain or Bella's, he suffered seeing Alice that way, he would do anything to make her feel better. But his gift didn't work anymore on us, or at least on me. There was nothing in the world sufficiently strong to make me feel better. That just depended on Bella, on her state, and in that moment it wasn't very promising. That was why I tried harder to find something that helped Bella, something that made us all feel better. I hadn't succeed.

We had spent all night long watching over Bella, that she slept well. She hadn't opened her eyes for any length of time. Rosalie and I were the only ones that were at her side in that instant.

Carlisle and Esme were upstairs. Carlisle was helping Emmett and Jasper with the research, and Esme was giving Alice some company, who was having another of her uncomfortable moments with the headache she was having lately.

Rosalie hadn't opened her mouth to attack me, she had even allowed me to hold between my hands one of Bella's, that I left aside for moments so it wouldn't freeze. The quilt covering her in that moment had been over Bella and Rosalie's lap during the night. Changing places everytime that her temperature changed. Sometime she was too cold, almost like our skin, she put the quilt over her to try and make her temperature warmer, and sometimes she was too hot that she had to take off the quilt from her. She hadn't stopped all night. Bella had been a little restless, but hadn't said a single word, she was still like a month ago.

I hadn't heard a word from Jacob or Seth since hours ago, either. It seemed that everything had been quiet through the night, and like Seth had been thinking, the pack seemed to had decided not attacking tonight. Which was a great relief, with the state in which Bella was, I didn't want to think if Bella would have endured something like that.

I still hadn't told her anything about it, either. I didn't want to upset her, or stressed her. Rosalie had agreed with me that it would be the best. Not telling her for the moment, because we both knew that we would have to tell her, but that wasn't the right moment.

We spent the last hours of the night alert even when there hadn't been any movement in the forest more than Jacob and Seth patrolling the surroundings of the house. At certain time in the night, Emmett and jasper had left their defensive position, the noted that for what they could see, it wouldn't happen anything. Maybe the pack would wait to see what they could do without two of their members. How to do it without hem in the pack.

The morning had begun peacefully, the sun had already risen. Bella was still asleep but her face looked a little, a little bit more restful. That calmed me minutely.

I didn't see anything out of normal, Rosalie's mind had gotten distracted when she saw her image reflected in one of the rails from the stretcher. Her mind was so shallow, that even in those moment the only thing she cared about was that her hair looked good. She saw Bella's face and then hers, and thought how beautiful she was.

I sighed deeply, attracting her attention without being my purpose. It exasperated me how Rosalie could be more worried about how she looked than how Bella looked, she had some of the blame, she was the one who had supported Bella to keep that monster.

Still, I couldn't blame her.

I understood the maternal side that I saw when she thought about the fetus. But, how could she had agreed into this, when she knew that I would lose who I loved the most?

Everything revolve around her as always.

A howl interrupted my thoughts, it sounded harrowing. The quietness we had been enjoying was being interrupted. Not completely, because again, it wasn't the howl of Jacob that we were hearing. It was Seth.

My family came downstairs immediately, anyway. Asking me what was happening. Rosalie had been the first one to react, her eyes had gone quickly towards Bella.

_Is it the pack, Edward?_

I could almost assure that it wasn't the pack the cause that had made Seth howl. Even so my family had gotten tense, imagining the worst again.

I shook my head, I hadn't answered aloud, I still didn't know what had caused the howl.

"No, I don't think is the pack." I raised from the chair, and left fall down softly over her stomach the Bella's hand that I was holding between mine. "It's Seth again who's howling, not Jacob."

_Awesome. How many times is going to fool us that kid?_ Emmett complained to had worried again because of Seth.

_Perhaps Jacob asked him to...?_

"No, Carlisle. I think that we should wait for them or another sign." I turned to see Carlisle, and then to Emmett. "Just to be sure that it's the pack or a mistake."

Both nodded. Emmett wasn't very convinced, but he knew that once I had already said something, there was no way to make me change my mind.

Alice was even more nervous than before, her lack of visions bothered her, even more in situations like these ones when we most wished she could see something. Though we knew that the wolves were involved and that wouldn't be possible.

Bella wasn't conscious about what was happening, about nothing, much less about the tension surrounding my family in this moment. She was still peacefully asleep, and no one, especially Rosalie and I wanted that her dream ended. She had to rest. It was in those situations when I was grateful that our footsteps and or voices didn't make such noise that alerted Bella.

Several minutes passed and we still didn't have a sign from Seth nor Jacob.

_Don't you hear anything yet, Edward?_

Carlisle asked me, a little anxious for the lack of news.

I shook my head again. "No, nothing."

I walked to the same window where I had seen Jacob through yesterday when it had happened the same mistake that today, waiting to see him trotting into the lawn again. But there was no one. There was no movement anywhere. Not yet.

While I was still waiting to see any of them, I listened to Rosalie walking over Bella, watching that she wasn't going to wake up before everyone had stopped being so tense and that she were going to notice the difference. She didn't want her to misunderstood their expressions.

Then I saw a little wolf walking into the lawn. It was definitely not Jacob, but Seth.

My eyes didn't leave his figure advancing inside the lawn towards the house. His eyes turned to the window from where I was looking at him.

_Oh, there you are, Edward._

I could see my face from his mind, there was no life in it. Expressionless.

_Ah yeah. I just came to let you know that there's nothing to worry about._

While he was talking was remembering what had caused him to howl. I didn't like much to see that her sister Leah, apparently, had come to join the pack of Jacob and Seth.

_What do you think you're doing, Leah?_ I saw Jacob asking, growling. To none of them liked the idea to have Leah with them.

Leah answered him with a snort. _It's pretty obvious, isn't it? I'm joining your crappy little renegade pack. The vampires' guard dogs._ Leah was completely mean, it wasn't as if she wanted to be that way, either, but she was.

_Yes, it was just my sister. So don't worry, there's no danger. Pack's not coming._

It was what I was expecting, it didn't surprise me. I nodded just once. I waited a moment to see if there was something else that Seth needed to tell me or I to know.

_Wow, he looks bad._ Seth thought to himself looking at my face.

Again, it didn't surprise me what he thought. I knew perfectly good how I looked like. I turned to my family, and walked back to where they were. I saw how Seth ran away back to Jacob and now Leah when I disappeared inside of the house.

_Was it Jacob?_

"It was Seth." I answered to whoever had asked me, and to everyone else. "His howl was because of Leah. It seems that his sister's joining the pack of Jacob and Seth."

I came back to Bella's side.

_Leah? Are you sure, Edward? It might be a trick from the pack._

I shook my head, again. "I don't think so. For what I saw it's not a trick." and for what I knew about Leah, the surest thing was that she had put herself away from Sam, not that she had the opportunity to leave from his pack and be away from him. That was surely the reason.

I took Bella's hand between mine again, her eyes blinked quickly and heavily for a few seconds before she opened them completely. The first thing that her eyes found were mine, anxious. She smiled a little before she spoke.

"Hi." her voice was worse, too. It was barely a sigh, with much effort she could utter what she wanted to say. There was a notorious rough tone in it.

I raised my hand to put it over her cheek. I stroked it a little, couldn't find the way to smile back at her. "How are you?"

I thought that Bella knew exactly what I was referring to. "Fine." her shoulders moved, in what seemed a shrug. "It hadn't kicked again." while she told me that, through her eyes crossed something that seemed to me worry. She turned to see Rosalie. "What does that mean? Carlisle?" she turned to ask my father when Rosalie didn't answer.

_Should we tell her, Edward?_ It worried Carlisle a little what the news could cause to Bella. But it was better that she knew the condition in which both of them were.

I nodded quickly once. It was barely perceptible to the eyes of Carlisle that were looking for an answer from me.

Carlisle sighed. "Bella. I think that both of you are starving to death. I can't find what the fetus wants..." the eyes of Bella had filled with worry, and anxiety. I could imagine what it caused her, to know that her little monster was dying. "Your system isn't accepting nutrition, so the fetus can't feed itself. I'm so sorry, Bella."

Bella shook her head slowly. As if trying to understand what Carlisle was telling her. Rosalie put one of her hands over her shoulder.

"Easy, Bella. We'll find a way to feed him. We're not going to allow him to die." Bella turned to see her, her eyes trusting in what Rosalie had said were true.

"Yes, we had to find it, Carlisle. My baby can't die." she turned to see me, and stretched her hand in my direction, looking for mine. I took it between mine, and my eyes didn't stray from her anxious face. "Please, Carlisle."

"We'll do even the impossible, Bella."

Bella nodded. Her other hand over her stomach, drawing little circles over a certain spot. As if she was caressing it.

We were in silence for a few minutes. Bella stayed laid down in the stretcher, she didn't have the strength to be sitting or lying over a few cushions, anything. The quilt covered her from her stomach to her legs. Her breathing was difficult, and her heart, the beatings were almost scary, the broke and failed everytime that I listened, it was a terrifying sound, for my anyway.

Emmett and Jasper had come upstairs again, and with them Esme and Alice. Principally Jasper, had worried too much about the false alarm that we heard from Seth and that reminded me.

"Bella, I think you need to know something." I told her, my voice serious, but some way lifeless. It was the same say as I had heard it from Jacob.

She noticed how my voice sounded, and I saw a little pain in her eyes. She didn't like to see me this way. But in this moment I couldn't find the necessary strength to hide it from Bella. Carlisle turned to see me, wondering that if what I was going to tell her was what had happened with the wolves.

"What is it? What's wrong, Edward?" she asked me, anxious again.

I shook my head. "Nothing to worry about." I turned to see Carlisle, too. He also wanted to know what had happened. "I just thought that you would want to know that Jacob and Seth left their pack."

Her eyes became confused. "What? What do you mean?"

"The pack discovered... that you're... pregnant."

Her head tilted a little to one side. "I don't understand."

"Sam and the other wolves thought that... what you're carrying would be a danger for the tribe, their families. They believed that the best would be to get rid of it."

"What? What do you mean get rid of it? You're not saying that...?"

I didn't want, I really didn't want to make it, but I had to. "Yes, Bella. They wanted to get rid of you. Jacob and Seth didn't agree, so the left the pack and came to warn us." I didn't feel the need to tell her that Leah had done the same thing, too. That would be worse. "They've been here since yesterday, watching that the pack didn't come to attack us, and if they did, they'd warn us."

Bella's eyes were terrified. She couldn't believe what I had just told her.

_Edward?_

I turned to see Carlisle, who was bewildered.

Her breathing had become even harder, her hear beating uncontrollably. It hadn't been a good idea telling her, but I had to.

_Damn, Edward! Bella needs to be quiet._ Rosalie complained internally while she looked what she could do for Bella.

"Bella? Calm down. All of this doesn't do any good to the baby." when Bella listened at her, I could see how she made an effort to calm her breathing. She made it slowly.

"Yes, all right." she turned to see me again. "Where are they? What happened?"

I took my hands to her face. "They're fine. Jacob and Seth are outside now, watching that everything is in order. It didn't happen anything last night. So don't worry. None of us nor Jacob or Seth are going to allow them to hurt you. You or the... _baby._" it took me a lot of effort to say it that way, but I did it.

"Why, Edward? Why would they want to kill my baby?" Bella was at the verge of crying, and that broke my hear in thousand pieces.

I couldn't answer anything.

"Tell me, Edward. What had we done?"

"You've done nothing wrong, Bella. Those wolves can die if they want trying to get a hand on you. They're never going to make it." Rosalie spoke for me, but Bella didn't take her eyes off me, knowing that I was who had the answer she wanted.

_Ay, tell her. But try to not upset her._

"They don't trust to be safe. Anyone knows what it is or how will be, not even us, Bella. They think than comparing it to the behavior of the newborns, will be uncontrollable, that it won't be able to reason. They don't a bloodsucker loose in their lands. Or elsewhere."

They had all the reason to want to get rid of that thing, what I couldn't allow, was that in their search to kill that thing, Bella would be injured or... dead.

Bella took one hand to her mouth, she coughed for a moment, almost violently. But she got better.

"No. they can't do it. You are not going to allow them to kill our baby, aren't you? Right, Edward?"

Even if I wanted that thing to be out of her stomach, and Bella to keep living as she should, I wouldn't get it from the wolves. They wouldn't take care that Bella survived, they just came to kill, everything that cared or wanted that monster alive.

"Of course not, Bella. I won't allow anything to hurt you."

"Nor our baby, either."

"Either."

Bella nodded, though her eyes were still red, the tears started to fall down her cheeks without warning.

"Why? It's just a defenseless baby. Of course we don't know how he will be, but we're not allowing him to hurt another innocent people, either. Why can't they trust in us?"

Bella kept talking to herself for another moment. Rosalie tried to distract her, she started talking with her, about the monster, of course. There was nothing else in common between them, nothing that they both wanted, more than that thing.

I took advantage of the distraction to talk to Carlisle.

I stood from Bella's side, and her head snapped at me brusquely.

"Where you're going?"

"I'm just going to talk with Carlisle. I'll be here, I won't be out of this room."

Bella nodded again, and turned her look back to Rosalie.

_What's going on, son? Something else I need to know about._

We walked a few steps to the window, Bella couldn't hear anything even if she made an effort.

"What was exactly that happened, Edward?"

"Almost everything that I told Bella. When Jacob phased into wolf, everyone could see that Jacob had seen in the house. Bella's pregnant, everything." I didn't want to mention that my face, and my words. "At the beginning they were all very shocked to think in what was what this meant. Sam got worried about his tribe, their families, of course. He remembered that this wasn't something that our treaty covered."

_Of course not. We would have never imagined that this were going to happen._

"Exactly. They think that it's an abomination. Though I can't argue that. Of course that not knowing what is it or what will it be, and seeing that none of us had any idea, either. They decided that the best was to kill it. And in the process Bella would end the same way."

_I'm sorry, son. But..._

"No, Carlisle. The only thing that mattered to them is to protect humans. They believe that it will be as the newborns, that we won't be able to control it, and under our protection..."

_But we would never allow it to kill a human._

"We know that, but they don't. They don't trust in what will it be when it's born. They don't want to take that risk. But now, I doubt that they'd attack. They're in disadvantage, there are just seven wolves in Sam's pack, three with us makes us ten. They couldn't win without losing the most of them. Or everyone."

"Edward, it wouldn't be the right thing to..."

"Please, Carlisle. None of us were going to let ourselves be killed, were going to let them kill Bella. Seth and Jacob refused before their own family to protect Bella. To help us."

_And I'm completely grateful with them, son. You know._

"I know, Carlisle, I know."

"What's going to happen with them? Do they know what Sam's pack is planning?"

_That could help._

"Ah, no. they don't. It seems that if there are two different packs, they can't hear each others thoughts from every one. Just from the members of yours. So Jacob and Seth had no idea what they're thinking, or plan to do. There's no way to know it."

"That's a problem."

"It is. That's why they're out there running the perimeter. Watching that none of them would come close to our territory. If they would, they'll let us know."

"Sure. Well, it's very lucky that Jacob and Seth had decided to not follow Sam's orders."

_If they hadn't, maybe we'd already..._

"Stop, Carlisle. I don't want to see that."

_Sorry, Edward._

To see, or to imagine what could've happened if it wasn't for Jacob and Seth was agonizing. Seeing Bella laid down on the floor, bathed in blood, and a bundle at her side, both lifeless... it was too much painful. I tried in vain to banish that image, or at least, to put it in the deepest corner of my mind.

"You said that Leah had joined to Jacob and Seth... what do you know about that?"

I actually didn't know much about it, Seth had just come to tell me that the howls were again a false alarm, that it was just his sister Leah. I couldn't see anything else, maybe when Jacob came, he would tell us what had happened.

"I don't know anything, just that it seems that she quit Sam's pack, too."

"Why would she do that?"

I shook my head, remembering my suppositions. "It's not because she likes us. Leah hates us, or vampires, which is the same."

"Then, why would she join Jacob and Seth, when she hates us? The kids are here to help us."

"I think I have a slight idea. To be away from Sam."

_You think?_

I shrugged, it wasn't as if care about it at the end. It didn't have importance to me the reason.

_Why didn't you tell Bella?_

"I don't think that's a good idea. Leah doesn't like Bella. So better, she doesn't know about it. It's not big deal, after all."

Carlisle nodded. _You're right. It might upset her for no reason._

"That's right. She doesn't have to know. Not yet at least. I0m sure that's not news that would like her very much."

Carlisle didn't have much time to answer to what I said, Bella had started to cough in such an uncontrollable way, that it seemed that she was never going to stop. We were back at her side in a second. One of her hands were over her mouth, the other one on her stomach. Rosalie's eyes were almost out of their sockets, she was scared for how she looked at Bella.

"Bella, love?"

Her state was getting worse at an accelerated pace. There was no change at all in her that told us that she was going to get better soon. That thing was fulfilling its goal, almost.

At the beginning she couldn't answer to me, she couldn't stop coughing. I listened at Carlisle giving to her something to control her, then I listened at him running to his office. Everyone else was there, and they got worried for Bella when they saw that Carlisle was looking for something inside of his bag where he had several medicines.

"Carlisle, what's happening?"

_I hope it's nothing serious._ Alice was begging internally, even when she listened perfectly they way in which Bella was coughing, she wished with all her might that it wasn't anything serious.

"It's just a coughing. But I want to give her something to control it."

"Would it work?"

_I don't know. But we have to try._ Carlisle thought, he turned to see them all when he already had the bottle with medicine on his hand.

"We'll see. Don't worry."

_Sure, very easy, right?_

Carlisle was back in a matter of seconds. He walked to Bella and inject the medicine, Rosalie got in the middle rapidly.

She growled, before asking him. "What do you think you're doing, Carlisle?"

Carlisle sighed, he was tired to trying to help Bella when Rosalie always questioned every one of his steps. "Rose, it's just a little medicine. I don't think it would make any effect. We hope that it calm her cough a bit." he moved aside, and pointed towards Bella who didn't stop coughing. "Please."

_Agh. Okay._ Rosalie moved out of the way and let Carlisle passed.

When Bella saw the needle, I could almost swear that her eyes were asking, _isn't it syrup?_ I took her hand and squeezed softly.

"Relax, Bella."

She closed tight her eyes, and Carlisle was already done. It was a fear, that I found irrational, in those moment more than ever. It was a needle!

Luckily, the coughing gave up a little, giving Bella a chance to breathe more easily. Her eyes opened, and sighed.

She coughed once more and now could talk. "Thanks, Carlisle."

It was evident the weakening it had suffered her throat, her voice sounded rougher, more forced.

_I think it'll just calm it, but won't go completely._

"Still. Thank you, Carlisle." I answered my father. At least Bella would be more quiet, her body wasn't making any more effort than necessary. That was a relief. For a moment I thought that it was never going to stop.

_There won't be much for me to do soon. I think I'll better go with everyone else, Edward. Help them with the research. We have to find something, and quick._

Before I could answer him. I listened to a pair of paws walking towards the house, and then I listened at the thoughts. I had been so distracted with Bella, that I hadn't heard him before, until he was close enough, and quiet inside of the house.

"Wait, Carlisle."

_What is it, son?_

"It's Jacob, he's coming to the house. In his human form."

_Oh, sure. You think I should...?_

"Yes, greet him. I don't want to move away from Bella." my eyes turned back to her face. There were still signs of stress in it. No, I couldn't leave her now.

_That dog again? Until when are going to have to stand him to be around here?_ Rosalie complained, but didn't say it out loud for Carlisle.

"Okay, son. I'll be right back."

Bella saw that Carlisle was walking to the front door, and not to the kitchen or upstairs, her eyes narrowed and turned to see me.

"Jacob's coming. He went to greet him."

"Ah." she bit her lips, and took one of her hands back to her stomach. Her other hand was still intertwined with mine. "He'll come in?" there was a little hint of hope, she wanted to see him.

"Probably."

She nodded, and stopped talking, trying to recover her breath. She was so tired, that it cost me a lot of work to believe that she could have talked that little.

I listened at Jacob walking closer to the house, and then I hear Carlisle opening the door before Jacob had even put a foot in the steps from the porch. Jacob was surprised to see than who had opened the door to greet him had been my father instead of me. He then looked better at the expression that Carlisle had, according to what he saw, it seemed exhausted. These late hours had been to tense, not just because of Bella and her state, but because of everything that was happening with the pack. We still weren't completely sure that everything was fine, that we could let our guards down. And then, defeated, yes, that expression must had been the most noticeable. Just a few minutes ago he had been thinking that there was nothing else to do if we didn't find a solution immediately.

For a second, I listened how his heart stopped when he saw his face, when he understood the expressions of Carlisle, Jacob hesitated in stopping but did it, he couldn't speak. He had thought the worst.

_Jacob? What's wrong with him?_

"Are you all right, Jacob?" Carlisle asked him, a little worried about his reaction.

"Is Bella?" he could barely ask, believing that his fear had become true.

"She's… much the same as last night. Did I startle you? I'm sorry. Edward said you were coming in your human form, and I came out to greet you, as he didn't want to leave her. She's awake."

Jacob didn't answer. I listened at him thinking that I didn't want to leave Bella because I hadn't much time left with her, and I didn't want to lose it. Though Carlisle hadn't told it that way, for him it was almost as if he had said it. It wasn't as if he was far from the truth, he was honestly closer to it than anyone, only him saw what anyone else saw in my actions. But it hurt me to think that it reality we didn't have much time left, so more than ever I didn't want to move myself away from her side. She was so weak, so vulnerable...

I listened at Jacob walking to the steps and the sitting on one of them, I could see from Carlisle that he laid his head over the rails. Too tired, all the hours that he hadn't slept were finally being too much for him. Carlisle silently moved to his side, Jacob didn't notice him until he was sitting at his side.

"I didn't get a chance to thank you last night, Jacob. You don't know how much I appreciate your… compassion. I know your goal was to protect Bella, but I owe you the safety of the rest of my family as well. Edward told me what you had to do..."

"Don't mention it." Jacob murmured. While I saw in Carlisle the moment in which I had explained it to him.

"If you prefer."

The two of them stayed in silent for a moment. I could hear the same as they could hear, it was a like a repetition to see it inside of their minds. Jacob focused in that could be heard inside of the house, first my brothers and Alice who were speaking upstairs, their voices were serious and low. They kept arguing about Bella's state, trying to decipher some myths they had already found, it wasn't very promising. Then Esme, who was humming without music in her room, which Jacob didn't know where it was. Trying to turn the voices of my siblings arguing off, she felt bad seeing Bella in that state and not being able to do anything, either. And lastly, Rosalie, Bella and I, he only heard our breathings, there was no heart to beat in Rosalie and in me. We were face-to-face, watching Bella, and Jacob couldn't distinguish who was who. Just Bella's breathing, that was more forced, it was almost a gasp. Then the beatings of her heart, uneven.

_It was like fate was out to make me do everything I'd ever sworn I wouldn't in the course of twenty-four hours. Here I was, hanging around, waiting for her to die._

I didn't want to hear more of his pessimism, that being honest, it wasn't more than the truth. It sill hurt me to listen in everyone else how bad Bella was, how she would end. That was the only terrible thing on having Jacob close by, hearing his point of view, his thoughts waiting for Bella to die.

I was as grateful as he had been with Alice yesterday, when he decided to interrupt what he was listening, thinking that it was better to speak than listen.

"She's family to you?" Jacob asked Carlisle, making conversation. I listened how it had caught his attention a moment ago, when my father thanked him for what he had done for us, for his family, and that included Bella. Of course she was family, it was like a daughter to him. After all she was married with one of his sons. That was how it worked. But it wasn't because of that.

"Yes. Bella is already a daughter to me. A beloved daughter." he remembered the moment in which Bella had said that I would end up loving Bella, and then when I brought her home to introduce her with my family. The day of our wedding, all the happiness that she had given me made him love her so much.

The next thing that Jacob was going to say, it was surely going to hurt Carlisle.

"But you're going to let her die."

Carlisle didn't answer. Remembering a moment in which my words had said almost the same thing, when he had told me that he wouldn't do anything against Bella if she didn't want.

_I know what he must be thinking about me. But how would I do something to hurt Bella? I can't._

My father was thinking, again the same tiredness when he heard those words. He had gotten tired to repeating to me his reasons to support Bella.

"I can imagine what you think of me for that. But I can't ignore her will. It wouldn't be right to make such a choice for her, to force her."

Jacob didn't answer him thinking that he should feel angry at him, but he couldn't. The kindness of Carlisle was hard to deny and he knew it, it was hard to get angry at him for what he had said, because he knew that he was right. Even I knew it. But I was agreed with Jacob in something, his words sounded right, but in those moments they couldn't be. Not when Bella was dying. I had begged Carlisle to help me, but he always said the same thing, and I knew that I didn't have a good argument against his words. It would be wrong to force Bella to do something that she didn't want to do, I had never been able to do it, and I wouldn't start now, though I knew I should.

_And Bella loved things she shouldn't._ Jacob thought. You're complete right, I wanted to say. But those words Bella had already heard and ignored completely.

"Do you think there's any chance she'll make it? I mean, as a vampire and all that. She told me about… about Esme."

Again I saw the answer before Carlisle thought about it, that too, I had already heard.

"I'd say there's an even chance at this point. I've seen vampire venom work miracles, but there are conditions that even venom cannot overcome. Her heart is working too hard now; if it should fail… there won't be anything for me to do."

In that moment Bella's heart beat strongly and stopped for a second, as if answering to what Carlisle had just said. Jacob noticed it, too.

_Maybe the planet had started turning backward. Maybe that would explain how everything was the opposite of what it had been yesterday—how I could be hoping for what had once seemed like the very worst thing in the world._

Jacob was right. Even myself, that I had already accepted that Bella changed into someone like us, I had wished and been happy when she had decided to wait a few more years, now wishing that Bella would make it through the change to vampire so I wouldn't lose her.

"What is that thing doing to her? She was so much worse last night. I saw… the tubes and all that. Through the window."

"The fetus isn't compatible with her body. Too strong, for one thing, but she could probably endure that for a while. The bigger problem is that it won't allow her to get the sustenance she needs. Her body is rejecting every form of nutrition. I'm trying to feed her intravenously, but she's just not absorbing it. Everything about her condition is accelerated. I'm watching her—and not just her, but the fetus as well—starve to death by the hour. I can't stop it and I can't slow it down. I can't figure out what it wants." his voice broke at the end. Remembering how Bella was dying and he or someone else kept without finding what the fetus wanted.

I listened how Jacob was feeling again as yesterday, when he had seen the bruises over Bella's stomach and had realized what they were, he felt furious, and a little crazy.

His hands become fists, trying to control the trembling that was running through him.

_I hated the thing that was hurting her. It wasn't enough for the monster to beat her from the inside out. No, it was starving her, too. Probably just looking for something to sink its teeth into—a throat to suck dry. Since it wasn't big enough to kill anyone else yet, it settled for sucking Bella's life from her._

_I could tell them exactly what it wanted: death and blood, blood and death._

Oh!

Yes... if Jacob was right, that I was sure he was... it's just that, how...?

How didn't we see it before?

It was obvious...

Blood! That thing was half-vampire, of course. I was its father, so... perhaps what he wanted was to drink blood like any of us did.

That's why it rejected all human food we tried Bella to eat.

"I wish I could get a better idea of what exactly it is. The fetus is well protected. I haven't been able to produce an ultrasonic image. I doubt there is any way to get a needle through the amniotic sac, but

Rosalie won't agree to let me try, in any case."

While I kept listening to what Jacob and Carlisle were thinking about, I was waiting maybe for something that could be logic with what Jacob had been thinking.

But it was actually logic. If Bella was starving to death, then so the fetus was. But it might not be from hunger, but from thirst. Being half-vampire, and considering that all human nutrition that we tried to administer to Bella was rejected, the surest thing was that that monster wanted blood, and like there was no more in Bella from which it could feed itself, it was dying, too, or just losing strength.

We couldn't die even if we didn't drink blood. Though that thing was half-human... maybe it could die.

"A needle? What good would that do?" Jacob mumbled.

"The more I know about the fetus, the better I can estimate what it will be capable of. What I wouldn't give for even a little amniotic fluid. If I knew even the chromosomal count..."

"You're losing me, Doc. Can you dumb it down?"

Carlisle chuckled. Remembering that he wasn't the only one to he had explained before what he was saying. "Okay. How much biology have you taken? Did you study chromosomal pairs?"

"Think so. We have twenty-three, right?"

This was going to help me a little bit. So I listened more carefully.

"Humans do."

I saw him blinking, confused for what Carlisle said. "How many do you have?"

"Twenty-five."

His eyes went to his fist before kept talking. "What does that mean?"

"I thought it meant that our species were almost completely different. Less related than a lion and a house cat. But this new life—well, it suggests that we're more genetically compatible than I'd thought." Carlisle sighed sadly. "I didn't know to warn them."

Jacob sighed, too. Thinking in what my father had just told him.

_It had been easy to hate Edward for the same ignorance. I still hated him for it. It was just hard to feel the same way about Carlisle. Maybe because I wasn't ten shades of jealous in Carlisle's case._

I needed to hear something that could confirm myself what I was thinking, minutes were passing.

But how to be sure? How were we going to prove this new theory? Would Bella have to drink blood? It was monstrous, repulsive to just thinking that that would happen. But if it saved her...

"It might help to know what the count was—whether the fetus was closer to us or to her. To know what to expect." I saw him shrugging. And he was getting closer to what I need to know. "And maybe it wouldn't help anything. I guess I just wish I had something to study, anything to do."

"Wonder what my chromosomes are like."

I didn't want them to get out the subject. So I waited another moment. The truth, I was terrified to the idea that Bella drank human blood.

Carlisle coughed, in an ashamed way. He knew what they were like. "You have twenty-four pairs, Jacob."

It was starting to grow inside of me, something similar to hope, something that wanted to be that feeling, but somehow I managed to get it out of my head. I couldn't let it grow inside in that moment, but just thinking that we had found the solution, that Bella would get better...

"I was… curious. I took the liberty when I was treating you last June."

"I guess that should piss me off. But I don't really care."

"I'm sorry. I should have asked."

"S'okay, Doc. You didn't mean any harm."

"No, I promise you that I did not mean you any harm. It's just that… I find your species fascinating. I suppose that the elements of vampiric nature have come to seem commonplace to me over the centuries. Your family's divergence from humanity is much more interesting. Magical, almost."

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo."

_He was just like Bella with all the magic garbage._

Carlisle laughed again.

Then I realized that I wasn't going to listen to anything else that might help me. It was time to talk with Carlisle about what I had heard. We couldn't lose any more time.

As soon as they heard my voice, both stopped to listen.

I raised, and Bella immediately became anxious.

"I'll be right back, Bella. I want to speak with Carlisle for a moment. Actually, Rosalie, would you mind accompanying me?"

_What is it, son?_

_Agh, Edward. If this is another of you tricks..._

"It's not." I murmured under my breath. Bella didn't even noticed.

"What is it, Edward?" Bella asked me.

"Nothing you need to worry about, love. It will just take a second. Please, Rose?"

_Sure, now you're calling me Rose._

"Esme? Can you mind Bella for me?"

Esme came downstairs immediately and was at Bella's side in two seconds.

"Of course."

_What would it be? There's something different in his face._

We walked towards the door, Rosalie behind me. Suspicion filling all of her mind. I saw from Jacob how Carlisle moved, and saw at the door, waiting for us to come out.

_What would it be? What would Edward be thinking now?_

In two seconds we were outside of the house, in the porch. Rosalie behind me.

I could see from Jacob how my face looked. Intensely focused, as he said. That's how I felt, I felt like this was going to work out. That Bella would get better, she had to.

I turned around to close the door when Rosalie was at the porch.

"Carlisle."

"What is it, Edward?"

"Perhaps we've been going about this the wrong way. I was listening to you and Jacob just now, and when you were speaking of what the… fetus wants, Jacob had an interesting thought."

_Me? What had I thought? Besides my obvious hatred for the thing? At least I wasn't alone in that. I could tell that Edward had a difficult time using a term as mild as fetus._

Yes, he was right. I wasn't alone.

"We haven't actually addressed that angle. We've been trying to get Bella what she needs. And her body is accepting it about as well as one of ours would. Perhaps we should address the needs of the… fetus first. Maybe if we can satisfy it, we'll be able to help her more effectively."

"I'm not following you, Edward." _I don't understand..._

"Think about it, Carlisle. If that creature is more vampire than human, can't you guess what it craves—what it's not getting? Jacob did."

_I did?_

Jacob ran through the conversation they had had, Jacob what he had thought about, and Carlisle processing what I was saying. The two of them understood at the same time what I was talking about.

"Oh. You think it is… thirsty?"

_Is that what you're thinking?_

Rosalie hissed at my side, also understanding what I was referring to. Her suspicions disappeared as fast as they came. Her face shined.

_Of course, Edward. How didn't we see it before?_

"Of course. Carlisle, we have all that type O negative laid aside for Bella. It's a good idea." _It was about time for you to do something good, little brother._

"Hmm." Carlisle was wondering in what Rosalie had just said. He put a hand under his chin. "I wonder… And then, what would be the best way to administer. . . ."

_No..._

Rosalie shook her head, interrupting Carlisle. "We don't have time to be creative. I'd say we should start with the traditional way."

For the love of all that was holly! Didn't she ever think at all about Bella? I knew the answer.

Jacob understood what were talking about. "Wait a minute. Just hold on. Are you—are you talking about making Bella drink blood?"

"It was your idea, dog." Rosalie looked at him with fury, not completely. Her look was deviated to some blind point.

Jacob turned to see Carlisle, and saw that the same ghost of hope that he had seen in my face when I came out was now seen in Carlisle's eyes. Carlisle pursed his lips. Thinking in what was happening. He thought as me, that it probably would work.

"That's just..."

"Monstrous? Repulsive?" I suggested when I heard that he couldn't find an adequate word to what he was listening.

"Pretty much."

"But what if it helps her?"

Jacob shook his head, angry for what was happening. "What are you gonna do, shove a tube down her throat?"

_If it's necessary, yes._ Rosalie thought. I held back the feeling that I had to ripping her head off.

"I plan to ask her what she thinks. I just wanted to run it past Carlisle first."

Rosalie nodded. Thinking in the perfect excuse to make her even if she didn't want to. "If you tell her it might help the baby, she'll be willing to do anything. Even if we do have to feed them through a tube."

And finally, Jacob realized, when he listened how Rosalie's voice became all lovely and charming when she named the _baby_, that Rosalie would do anything and would be agreed with anything that helped that monster. It had taken him too much time to understand that that was Rosalie wanted.

_Was that what was going on, the mystery factor that was bonding the two of them? Was Rosalie after the kid?_

Jacob turned to see me just with his eyes, when his eyes were on my face, I nodded just once in an absent way, nor Rosalie nor Carlisle noticed it. Jacob knew that I was answering his question, even when I hadn't turned to see him. It wasn't necessary.

_Huh. I wouldn't have thought the ice-cold Barbie would have a maternal side. So much for protecting Bella—Rosalie'd probably jam the tube down Bella's throat herself._

His thought again made me pressed my lips together, I didn't have to answer him again so he knew that he was right again.

"Well, we don't have time to sit around discussing this. What do you think, Carlisle? Can we try?" Rosalie was impatient to try, to be sure that this would work.

_God... there's no other option, for the moment._ He took a big breath, and was on his feet again. Ready to try, if that was what Bella wanted. "We'll ask Bella."

Rosalie smiled, sure that she would get her way. _I'll make sure that she'll accept. Everything for the baby... this is going to work, I know._

The three of us walked back into the house, with Jacob behind us. I didn't think he would come.

_Just morbid curiosity, maybe._ He thought, as if he had answered what I was thinking.

He was thinking that it was like in a horror movie, blood and monsters. Of course it was that, only he saw it.

Alice, Jasper and Emmett were already downstairs, besides Bella. Anxious with was going to happen next. Bella was the only one who didn't have an idea of what was going to happen.

_Edward, are you sure? It's human blood! And well, Bella's still... human._

Alice was the most anxious, worried about Bella, of course.

_Wow, Edward. You think this works?_

Everyone had the same doubt, everyone were worried, and a little bit tense for what Bella would have to do, everyone except Rosalie.

Hearing them, made me fell back into that hole. That little light of hope that I had felt, disappearing when I started thinking in what Bella would do. How was I going to put her through such horror? To make matters worse than everything she had been through because of me.

I looked into Bella's eyes, that were following Rosalie, Carlisle, Jacob and me walking towards her. It was suspicion what was in them, she didn't know what we had talked about. Of course she was afraid, and she hadn't heard the worst part.

"What's going on?" her eyes on Rosalie, one of her hands over her stomach, as if she was trying to protect that thing.

Carlisle was the one who spoke. "Jacob had an idea that might help you. _I wished he would leave me out of it. I hadn't suggested anything. Give the credit to her bloodsucking husband, where it belonged. _"It won't be… pleasant, but—"

_Agh, just say it._

"But it will help the baby. We've thought of a better way to feed him. Maybe."

Bella's eyes blinked, and I recognized her expression. She coughed, and it was listened as a weak chuckle. "Not pleasant? Gosh, that'll be such a change."

Rosalie laughed with her, as if she had really found funny what she said.

Bella was still the same one, trying to make easier a situation, though it were more serious and grave, and she the sick one. Jacob noticed the same thing, too.

How to tell her? The funny part of the situation would leave her features when she heard what I had to tell her. Though I didn't want now.

How was I going to ask her to drink _human_ blood?

It was one of the worse thing that Bella would be forced to make.

I walked around Rosalie to see Bella, and... tell her.

_No humor touching his intense expression. I was glad for that. It helped, just a little bit, that he was suffering worse than me._ Jacob was thinking.

When I was next to Bella, I took her hand, the one she didn't have on her stomach, between mine.

It was time.

"Bella, love, we're going to ask you to do something monstrous. Repulsive." I told her using the same adjectives that I had told Jacob.

_Well, at least he was giving it to her straight._

Bella took air, forcefully. "How bad?"

I didn't want to answer to that. Carlisle saw it.

_I tell her, son._ "We think the fetus might have an appetite closer to ours than to yours. We think it's thirsty."

Bella blinked, understanding. "Oh. Oh."

"Your condition—both of your conditions—are deteriorating rapidly. We don't have time to waste, to come up with more palatable ways to do this. The fastest way to test the theory—"

Now it was Bella who interrupted him. "I've got to drink it," Bella nodded lightly, without strength to do more. "I can do that. Practice for the future, right?" she turned to see me, and her lips stretched into what must have been a smile. I wasn't able to smile back. I couldn't, thinking in what Bella'd do.

Rosalie was becoming desperate.

_What are we waiting for?_ She started patting the floor lightly with her toe.

_The sound was really irritating._ Jacob wondered what would Rosalie do if he threw her through one of the windows. The questions was what would Emmett do.

"So, who's going to catch me a grizzly bear?"

Carlisle turned to see me at the same time that I him. Even Rosalie stopped the sound.

_We've got to tell her, son._

"What?"

_I'll do it._

"It will be a more effective test if we don't cut corners, Bella." Carlisle told her. It was as hard for him as it was for me to explain Bella what she had to do. This was the second thing that I would have never imagined having to ask her, that she'd have to do.

"If the fetus is craving blood, it's not craving animal blood." it was horrible to tell that to my Bella, but I had to do it. Human blood. That was beyond a horror story as Jacob had said, it was worse because it was reality.

"It won't make a difference to you, Bella. Don't think about it."

Rosalie encouraged her, of course, thinking that she herself would give her the blood against her will if that helped the baby. But I knew, too, that there would be no need.

Bella's eyes widened. Terror passing through them. "Who?" she asked, and I didn't have to see it to know that her eyes would go to Jacob, he was the only possible donor among the ones who were there. But his blood...

"I'm not here as a donor, Bells. 'Sides, it's human blood that thing's after, and I don't think mine applies—"

Jacob explained to Bella. And she calmed a little.

Rosalie, of course, got tired that we were taking so long.

_Agh, please! We don't have to time to waste._

"We have blood on hand." Rosalie interrupted Jacob, talking exactly as Jacob thought, as if he wasn't there. "For you—just in case. Don't worry about anything at all. It's going to be fine. I have a good feeling about this, Bella. I think the baby will be so much better."

The baby, the baby. There was nothing else that she was interested in than that monster.

I felt like ripping her head off again, but that wouldn't help at all. While it helped Bella, anything else mattered. Anything.

Bella ran her hand over her stomach. Thinking in that thing, surely. In what Rosalie had told her, that it would help the baby if she did it. And I knew in that instant, that Bella would do anything as long as it helped that thing. As much as I was willing to do anything for her.

"Well," her voice was barely audible. It had to work. It had to get Bella better. "I'm starving, so I'll bet he is, too." yes, everything was revolving around that monster, she didn't even care if it didn't work with her, while that monster were okay. "Trying to make another joke. "Let's go for it. My first vampire act."

How much had I fought to keep Bella out of this world, out of my world of horrors and monsters everywhere? How much had I warned Bella that I wasn't good for her, that being with me would only bring her suffering? I had almost gotten tired telling her over and over again, and here she was anyway, dying for another monster.

For the first time in these weeks, I had felt a little ray of hope, or the wish to be able to have hope,

Everyone seemed very optimistic. But the little light that I had been able to see at the end of the tunnel, had darkened again, it had darkened seeing Bella what she was going to do, what she was being forced to make to survive.

Human blood!!

She wasn't even a vampire, she was a human, the same beautiful girl from which I had fallen in love with, the one from which I was still in love with, from which I wouldn't be able to keep living anymore if she left me, if she died...

She was now here, almost dead laid down over a stretcher in the middle of this room, waiting for my father and my sister to bring her human blood and drink it as it were water.

What hell had we fallen in?

**See ya soon!!**

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	14. Chapter 13, MONSTROUS, REPULSIVE

**Hi guys!**

**I´m finally back with Breaking Dawn. I hope you still want to know what´s next in Edward´s mind.**

**And I hope you enjoy it.**

**I´ll be waiting for your reviews. And if it takes me too long to upload the next chapter, it´s because I´m translating it. But don´t worry, it´s already done in Spanish, so...**

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**And again, STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

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CHAPTER 13. MONSTROUS, REPULSIVE

I couldn't believe that this was really happening, that Bella was about to drink blood, human blood-just to save her life, and... that thing's.

Rosalie had been more than happy when she heard my theory. Sure that this would work, that that was probably what the fetus was craving, that was why Bella's body rejected any type of human nutrition, because that wasn't what the fetus wanted.

It was obvious, so I couldn't believe that none of us would have considered it before.

And again, I found myself in debt to Jacob if this worked, because Bella would get better, even for a short time, while that monster completed its cycle inside her body.

Rosalie and Carlisle had gone upstairs, in two seconds were already in the room where they had saved the blood that Bella would drink now. I shuddered inwardly at the thought of Bella trying to even smell it, I still remembered well the day that Bella fainted in biology class only by the smell of blood.

In my memory, I reviewed the conversation with Bella.

_"You actually listened to me."_I had told her, stunned to see that she had done what I asked her.

Her little nose wrinkling. _"I smelled the blood."_ Bella had answered to me.

Her answer had left me blank. _"People can't smell blood. "_

_"Well, I can-that's what makes me sick. It smells like rust ... and salt."_

My face had frozen. And I remembered the same thing I had wondered for my interiors.

_Was she really even human? She looked human. She felt soft as a human. She smelled human—well, better actually. She acted human... sort of. But she didn't think like a human, or respond like one._

Although, what other choice was there?

_"What?"_ Bella had asked me.

But of course, back then, what I thought wasn't something I could tell her. Not in that moment.

_"It's nothing."_

What other choice was there? I asked myself again ... but that humanity that was in her was about to end, sooner than I ever would have wished.

I couldn't imagine this angel so pure, not even in my mind, drinking blood. Of any kind. Why could she not see the monsters we were?

I heard Carlisle and Rosalie discussing about what would be the best way to administer the blood to Bella. And again I shuddered inwardly.

"What do you think, Carlisle?"

_I think it would be best if it's warm. That's how we like it..._

"I'm not sure, Rose."

_It's a baby vampire ... and we don't enjoy it when it cools. I wonder if ..._

"Carlisle. I think we should warm it."

Carlisle sighed, giving up. He knew again, that Rose was right. "Okay." he said, nodding.

They took a few bags, and I heard Carlisle wonder how much would be necessary.

Again, I shuddered inwardly.

I heard the same thing happening between Rosalie and Carlisle upstairs from Jacob. _Ugh._

He was a little horrified, or disgusted by what he was listening. Wondering what else we had inside the house that were part of a house of horror.

_Fridge full of blood, check. What else? Torture chamber? Coffin room?_

I Almost rolled my eyes when I heard what Jacob was wondering to himself. Was it the best he could do, he thought that was how vampires actually were? We didn't even sleep!

My eyes never stopped seeing Bella, my hands were holding her hand. I felt that that little piece of hope that had almost born, had gone away. I couldn't keep it in me, not when I had to hear everything what the others thought, especially Jacob.

After all, it Bella regained strength and energy... it was sure that the thing would too.

What would happen to Bella when that thing had the strength to break her a bone?

Suddenly, this no longer seemed such a good idea to me. But if it helped Bella, if she got more healthy, if her eyes regained some of its light...

Not that it was necessary, because in those moments, Bella looked into my eyes as I did into hers. Even when I couldn't see that beautiful glow, like they were a pool of melted chocolate, they were still the color that I had come to love. How was I going to miss it when it was gone!

For that reason, knowing that we didn't have much time, I took every second to enjoy the view to all the way into her soul.

Still so pure, so beautiful as the day I met her, that it was hard for me to take away my look, that it was difficult for me not being able to have that image inside my head.

_No, it wasn't gooey, but that only made it harder to watch._

I heard Jacob thinking, while he looked at the way Bella and I were staring at each other. It was as if we were having a conversation. Sometimes it felt that way, as if we didn't have to say something to know what the other thought.

My eyes didn't move even when I heard how difficult it was for him.

I couldn't take my eyes off hers. Thinking over and over again, wondering, how many hours did Bella have left, how long we had left to be together... how long had I stolen from her, how long had I taken away from by putting my eyes on her, by having fallen in love with her. I had been selfish, all the pain and wounds that I had inflicted on her by selfishness.

Why couldn't I stay away from her, while I still could?

Thinking about all of that was no good to me, so I drew my mind into the thoughts of my family, including Jacob.

Carlisle and Rosalie weren't coming downstairs yet; the others were upstairs, doing other things.

And Jacob, well, Jacob was still thinking about the conversation that Bella and I were keeping. He was comparing the way we looked with Sam and Emily, and for the first time, he understood the pain and the reason that Leah had to be so mean to the members of the pack.

I would never blame her again. How could anyone help spreading this kind of misery around? How could anyone not try to ease some of the burden by shoving a little piece of it off on someone else?

I couldn't blame Jacob to think that way, either, he was right.

I could see the pain he felt when he saw us that way, seeing how Bella and he would never be that way, after all, he still loved her. That's why he was here.

Carlisle and Rosalie finally finished upstairs, and I heard Rosalie going downstairs and go into the kitchen. The smell of blood filling the room. It wasn't something she struggled with, she had a record as clean as Carlisle's.

_Glass, glass_. Rosalie thought, as he opened one of the cupboards in the kitchen. From her mind I saw she was looking for a glass to cover what she needed.

Damn! Was she taking a clear glass? Did she really not think of nothing else than that monster?

I didn't know why I was surprised...

"Not clear, Rosalie." I said in a whisper, too low for Bella to hear. I rolled my eyes. Wasn't it obvious?

It would be more difficult for Bella to see what she was drinking.

_Sure. True, sorry._

Bella, of course, noticed my expression. Her eyes full of questions, confused. I didn't answer, she didn't have to know what I meant, I didn't want her to think about what she would do, so I just shook my head.

Rosalie returned to the room to change the glass.

The distraction caused Bella to take her eyes from my face. She turned to Jacob.

"This was your idea?"

Bella asked, struggling to make her voice sound louder. As if she had forgotten that Jacob could hear as clearly as we did every sigh, every whisper. And it pleased Jacob that at times she seemed to forget that he wasn't fully human.

Of course she forgot, he _seemed_ entirely human. Not like us...

Jacob moved closer to Bella, so she didn't have to struggle unnecessarily.

"Don't blame me for this one. Your vampire was just picking snide comments out of my head."

Sarcastic?

Well, at least they worked for something this time.

Bella smiled a bit before responding. "I didn't expect to see you again."

"Yeah, me, either."

I didn't understand very well the change in his thoughts, as if he didn't want to think about that, perhaps. But suddenly, he was thinking in how uncomfortable he felt just being stood there, how we had taken all the furniture out of the house to be able to give some space to the medical equipment that was now attending the status of Bella's health.

We were vampires, stone, that was exactly what we were as Jacob thought, and it didn't bother us to be sitting or standing, so it made no difference to us to have furniture or not. In fact, we only had them to keep on the human charade.

_Wouldn't bother me much, either, except that I was so exhausted._

I was about to offer him a chair or something, when Bella opened her mouth to speak, so I didn't.

"Edward told me what you had to do. I'm sorry." Bella told Jacob. I knew that conversation would come.

"S'okay. It was probably only a matter of time till I snapped over something Sam wanted me to do,"

It was, of course, a lie. I could hear it in that moment, and I knew beforehand that he'd done it just because it was about Bella.

"And Seth."

"He's actually happy to help." That wasn't a lie, and I didn't have to read it to know that it wasn't. Seth considered us all as friends, well, perhaps everyone but Rosalie.

"I hate causing you trouble." Bella whispered.

Jacob laughed, it sounded more like a bark than a laugh. I could imagine what Bella would say.

She sighed quietly. "I guess that's nothing new, is it?"

"No, not really."

Bella was trying hard in talking, she wasn't the only one who looked exhausted. "You don't have to stay and watch this." She told Jacob.

_I could leave. It was probably a good idea. But if I did, with the way she looked right now, I could be missing the last fifteen minutes of her life._

It took me a lot of effort to listen to what Jacob thought. It couldn't, in any way, to be her last fifteen minutes of her life. Bella could not die, she couldn't…

"I don't really have anywhere else to go." Jacob told her, it was notorious the way in which he tried to make his voice emotionless, but what he was going to tell her, it was for sure the worst thing he could say to keep Bella calm with this conversation. "The wolf thing is a lot less appealing since Leah joined up."

"Leah?" Bella gasped, surprised and scared for what Jacob had just said.

I knew she wouldn't like the idea of having Leah close by very much. For that reason I hadn't told her anything about it.

"You didn't tell her?" Jacob asked me.

Hadn't he just seen Bella's reaction? That's why I hadn't told her.

Without turning to see him, my eyes always on Bella's face, I shrugged.

_I could see it wasn't very exciting news to him, not something worth sharing with the more important events that were going down._

"Why?" Bella asked.

In her eyes I could see, in her tone that she didn't like the news. Jacob noticed it too.

"To keep an eye on Seth." He answered her, without wanting to explain the real reason for Leah to have decided to join Jacob and Seth.

Next thing Bella said, I would've never imagined.

"But Leah hates us."

_Us. Nice. I could see that she was afraid, though._

"Leah's not going to but anyone." _But me_. "She's in my pack," Jacob made a face when he said that, he didn't like the fact of being the Alpha of another pack. "so she follows my lead." _Ugh_.

What Jacob said didn't convince much Bella, and Jacob noticed that, too.

"You're scared of Leah, but you're best buds with the psychopath blonde?"

_Agh. You moron dog!_ Rosalie thought when she heard what Jacob had said. A hiss was listened from the kitchen where Rosalie still was.

_Cool, she'd heard me._

Bella frowned. "Don't. Rose… understands."

Right. She understands that…

"Yeah." Jacob answered her with a growl. "She understands you're gonna die and she doesn't care, s'long as she gets her mutant spawn out of the deal."

This time, Rosalie didn't say anything, I didn't even hear some negative, because that was the truth.

Why Bella didn't see it, too?

"Stop being a jerk, Jacob."

Jacob smiled instead of get mad at her. She looked too weak to be. "You say that like it's possible."

I could see how Bella tried not to smile, her lips struggling to not twist into a smile, but at the end her struggles were in vain. Her lips made a little smile.

I listened to Carlisle and Rosalie walking towards the room, a second they were in the kitchen and the other they were already at our side. I could see from Jacob's mind, nor Carlisle nor Rosalie had her eyes in it, but Jacob saw it, it was the white cup Rosalie'd chosen after I had told her not to use the clear one, this one had a straw.

Jacob understood what I meant when I'd asked her to switch the clear glass that she'd taken before.

_Son, are you sure about this?_

_This is going to work! I can feel it._

Carlisle neared Bella, the hand where he had the glass half-stretched toward Bella. The smell of blood was weak, it didn't cause the monster inside of me to react, it didn't make my mouth to swim with venom.

There was no more potent blood than Bella's, and it'd been a long time since the temptation that was supposed to be to me had stopped. This was too easy to ignore.

Bella looked at the cup, and there was fear in her eyes. Maybe…

_Perhaps she doesn't want to do it anymore._ Carlisle was thinking.

Rosalie, on the other side. _She'll have to do it, for the baby._

"We could try another method." Carlisle offered her.

_What? Of course not._

"No." Bella whispered. "No, I'll try this first. We don't have time…"

Her hand went to her belly, thinking in that thing first, not in her.

Everything just to save that monster. But, why was it weird to me? Bella had that maternal side, she'd taken care of her mother as if she'd been her daughter. She wasn't going to allow anything to happen to her… _baby_.

Bella moved herself forward to reach the cup Carlisle still had in his hand, she took it in her hand and it shook a little. Thinking about what she was going to do, what was inside the cup. She tried to raise herself a bit, trying to hold herself in an elbow so she could drink the liquid. When Rosalie noticed, obviously, that she couldn't do it on her own, Rosalie moved.

Bella was so weak, that she could barely talk, she didn't have a chance of moving much without someone else's help.

Rosalie put her arm under Bella's shoulders.

_Don't worry, Bella. I help you. This will work._

She held her head, too.

_Blondie was all about babies._

"Thanks." Bella told her. Her eyes looking at each one of the faces that were by her side. In her eyes I could see that she was a little embarrassed of having the attention on her.

I could imagine how her face would've brightened with that color red that colored her face every time she felt embarrassed about anything.

Rosalie also understood Bella's expression.

"Don't mind them."

_Couldn't someone take that dog out at least?_

I hadn't been able to say anything, I was so terrified as Bella for doing that. But I convinced myself that it was the best, when I thought this was going to make her feel better. That's what I tried to convince myself, but it was very hard.

The emotions running through everyone of us were so different.

Carlisle, well, Carlisle was excited and at the same time disgusted with what Bella was forced to do. Excited because if this worked, well, at least Bella would get better a bit.

Rosalie. What could I say about Rosalie? She was thrilled, almost exploding with anxiety for Bella to sip a little bit to the cup and see if this resulted how we expected to. She was the most certain of all of us, that it was going to work, that the fetus was going to be better. It was the only thing that mattered to her.

And Jacob, he was uncomfortable. Thinking that he should've left when he had the chance. Wanting to escape in this moment, but he didn't try. He knew that if he did that, it would only make harder what Bella was about to do.

I, was too disgusted for what was happening to feel any emotion at all, some expectation, feeling hope that Bella was going to recover. I felt again in that black hole, being trapped in it, I couldn't feel anything else but hatred towards me. I just had to see where I had got Bella into! What she had to do to keep living.

Bella raised the cup to her nose, and smelled a little from what came out of the straw. I believed for a moment, that her face was going to lose more color, or that she was going to get dizzy. But it didn't happen. Not like I thought, Bella shivered a little, and made a face.

It was unpleasant, of course it was. Well we weren't going to force her to do something that monstrous, repulsive.

"Bella, sweetheart, we can find an easier way." My hands were stretched toward the cup to take it.

_Don't you dare, Edward! This is the easiest way._

"Plug your nose." Rosalie told her. Her look full of ire to what she saw I was trying to do, her eyes in my hands… wishing that she could take them off me. But she knew that that'd be the last thing I'd stand from her. So she held back. Jacob wished Rosalie made a move like that, knowing I wouldn't stand for her to do something like that, and I'd rip some part of her off.

"No, that's not it. It's just that it—" Bella interrupted our thoughts. She took a big gush of air and answered. "-it smells good."

_Oh God! Would that really be what the fetus wants?_

_I knew it!_

Jacob was the only one in reacting close to me. He swallowed loudly, trying not to show the disgust he felt in his face.

"That's a good thing. That means we're on the right track. Give it a try."

If a moment ago she was exploding with happiness when I'd said that what the fetus maybe wanted was blood, wasn't nothing compared with the expression that was on her face in this moment.

But again, it was all about the fetus. For the fetus weren't going to die before being able to hold it in her arms like Jacob thought.

I didn't want, I tried to not think about what Bella was about to do. But it was very difficult. It was irritating to read the emotion and bliss Rosalie was feeling in that moment. That made me feel worse, it was pure hell where I was. Bella drinking human blood in front of my eyes, it was one of the worst images that in my life at her side I'd had. An image I would've rather a thousand times not see, to have gone before it happened.

It was as if destiny didn't get tires of making us suffer, as if having cut Bella's wings and let her fall into a monster's arms hadn't been enough now she had to put Bella through such a horrible situation.

I knew that _I_ deserved such a punishment.

But her? What had she done to deserve something like this?

Ah, right. Give her back to her humanity and staying beside the monster I was.

Bella introduced the straw into her mouth, and I shuddered internally, she closed her eyes and squeezed them shut, her nose wrinkled. I could hear the sound of the blood being sucked through the straw from two different thoughts, Jacob was only listening the sound of the blood moving because the cup trembled in Bella's hand.

_It must be a better way of doing this._ Carlisle was thinking.

Bella swallowed for a second before reacting. From her lips came out a moan, her eyes kept shut.

And it was too much for me…

"Bella, love-"

"I'm okay." Bella interrupted me. Her eyes opened and settled on mine. There were different emotions running through her eyes. Full of apology, as if what she'd done or felt, I wasn't sure, had been something wrong. It wasn't far from a lie, it wasn't right for a human to drink human blood. Then beseeching… for comprehension? And last, scared. "It tastes good, too."

Ah, now I understood every one of her expressions. The reason for them.

_It tastes good? I guess, that's what the fetus really wants._

I listened to Jacob gritting his teeth together, trying strongly to not throw up.

"That's good. It's a good thing." Rosalie said, completely delighted that it worked better than she expected.

I didn't know what to say, so I only squeezed my hand on her cheek. I could feel all the shape of her bone. My fingers curving over her form. Trying to tell her with my look that everything was fine, that she didn't have to worry, even when inside of me, misery didn't leave me.

Bella sighed, understanding what I was telling her. I saw it in her eyes. She took the straw to her mouth once again, and I shuddered internally. This time she took a bigger sip.

_The action wasn't as weak as everything else about her. Like some instinct was taking over._

Jacob was right.

Of course it was that way, that thing was the one thirsty for human blood, not Bella.

"How's your stomach? Do you feel nauseated?" Carlisle asked, when seeing how she'd reacted the second time to the blood.

Bella shook her head before answering him. "No, I don't feel sick. There's a first, eh?"

Rosalie smiled hugely. "Excellent."

_You did something good after all, Edward._

"I think it's a bit early for that, Rose." Carlisle told her. He wasn't sure of how would they both react to the blood yet.

_It seems like it's reacting well. But we have to wait._

Bella took another sip of blood, and doubt crossed her eyes. Her eyes locked with mine, and she asked me. "Does this screw my total? Or do we start counting after I'm a vampire?"

Ah, my Bella.

"No one is counting, Bella. In any case, no one died for this." I couldn't help smiling, or twisting my lips in what seemed a smile. I must've imagined Bella would think about that. "Your record is still clean."

_They'd lost me._ Jacob thought, confused by the interchange of words between Bella and me.

Of course he didn't understand.

"I'll explain later." I whispered to him, Bella didn't listen anything, just a whisper because she turned to see me questioning me.

"What?"

"Just talking to myself." I told her.

_If he succeeded with this, if Bella lived, Edward wasn't going to be able to get away with so much when her senses were as sharp as his. He'd have to work on the honesty thing._

Yes, that was completely true.

I struggled to not smile at what I was hearing Jacob thought, but it was hard.

If Bella was so observant and it was odd something escaped her attention while being human. It wasn't going to be any easy to hide something from her. That was it; I'd have to work on the honesty thing.

I didn't really care, being honest with Bella is what I've always wanted since I met her. It wouldn't cost me much work.

Bella kept drinking more sips of blood, without looking at any of us; her eyes looked toward the window. Absently, as if she were pretending we weren't there. That we weren't looking what she was doing.

Jacob thought that she might be just pretending it was him who wasn't there. Because it wasn't something disgusting what she was doing for us. He was wrong; the only one who wasn't was Rosalie. Carlisle and I weren't happy at all with seeing Bella to have the need to drink blood.

_Just the opposite-they were probably having a tough time not ripping the cup away from her._

I rolled my eyes at his comment. Didn't he remember Carlisle was a doctor?

_Jeez, how did anyone stand living with him? It was really too bad he couldn't hear Bella's thoughts. Then he'd annoy the crap out of her, too, and she'd get tired of him._

Without being able to help it, without thinking in what I was doing, a snicker escaped from between my teeth. Bella's eyes returned to my face in an instant, I saw her mouth twitching in a little smile at seeing the little humor in my face. It's been too long since she didn't see or hear a laugh from me.

"Something funny?" Bella asked.

I wasn't going to explain everything I'd heard Jacob thinking to make me laugh; neither Carlisle nor Rosalie heard the same thing, so I just said his name. "Jacob."

Bella raised her look toward Jacob, and she smiled to him a bit. "Jake's a crack-up."

_Great, now I was the court jester._ "Bada bing."

Bella smiled again.

Then she took another sip from the cup, but there was nothing else. She hasn't even realized that the sound coming out of the cup was emptiness, there was no more liquid. The only thing hearable was the air being suctioned.

Jacob shivered when he heard that sound.

"I did it." Bella said, pleased with herself for having succeeded at drinking human blood. Sure, she was happy for having fed her monster finally.

The change in her voice was noticeable, it wasn't just a soft murmur anymore, still rough, but more understandable, it didn't seem like she was fighting to be able to talk.

Carlisle noticed the change the difference.

_Would it be possible that that's what the fetus's wanted? The change is unbelievable, but still…_

"If I keep this down, Carlisle, will you take the needles out of me?"

I must, again, have imagined that that would be what Bella would want the most in that moment. I almost smiled, almost.

"As soon as possible. Honestly, they aren't doing that much good where they are." Carlisle told her.

Rosalie gave Bella's forehead a little pat, and they both stared at each other, full hope in their looks.

_We're finally progressing, the baby's surely content._

_See, Edward? Bella's better…_

I could see it, from three different points of view. Everyone noticed it.

The color in her cheeks and her skin were returning, they didn't look so lifeless, a light rose color was seen in her face, the glow in her hair and her skin were more notable. She even looked stronger, as if she didn't need Rosalie anymore to help her support herself. Her breathing, it seemed that her lungs weren't working so hard.

And her heart, the heartbeats I was listening were closer to what they once were. Those heartbeats that were music to my ears, what I so much loved from her. They were beating stronger.

This might worked, Bella might make it alive, well, she might walk away from this like she said herself. If she walked away from this as a vampire, it wouldn't be much of a life she'd have, just an existence.

But I wasn't going to worry about that, not now.

Just seeing the change that the blood had produced in her body, relived that little hope that I so much wanted to feel. It was as if now, I couldn't help it to grow inside of me. Not when I was seeing Bella getting better, that for the first time her condition was getting better instead of getting worse.

It was only a little ray of hope, but enough to give some light to the darkness I was living on these days.

_It might be good…_ Rosalie thought, but didn't let me see more. I didn't like it much.

What was she thinking?

"Would you like more?" Rosalie asked Bella, and I realized what she'd been hiding from me.

Bella let herself fall back to the stretcher, her shoulders shrugged. But there was something in her expression I didn't understand at the moment.

More? Was she insane?

_The baby has to feed._ Rosalie told me in her mind when I glared at her for telling that to Bella. She didn't have to.

"You don't have to drink more right away."

"Yeah, I know. But… I want to." Bella said, a sad tone in her words. And I understood the expression of a moment ago.

Rosalie ran her fingers through Bella's hair.

_Even its texture has changed, a bit._ "You don't need to be embarrassed about that, Bella. Your body has cravings. We all understand that." Her tone had been soft, almost affectionate when her words had been directed to Bella, but they changed when she thought of Jacob. "Anyone who doesn't understand shouldn't be here."

Jacob understood that her words were-mostly-for him. Not completely, Rosalie perfectly knew that I wasn't very happy with Bella drinking blood, but of course, she knew that for any reason I would get away from Bella's side.

Not if this made her feel better.

_Okay, I'll bring more, son. As long as Bella's willing…_

Carlisle took the cup from Bella's hand to go back to the kitchen. "I'll be right back."

Bella's eyes were on Jacob then. "Jake, you look awful."

"Look who's talking."

"Seriously-when's the last time you slept?"

Jacob thought about his answer for a moment before answering. "Huh. I'm not actually sure."

I could listen to Carlisle warming the blood a little bit more to give Bella. He wasn't in much of a rush, he didn't like yet thinking that that blood was going to be drunk by Bella, still human.

"Aw, Jake. Now I'm messing with your health, too. Don't be stupid." Bella said.

Jacob gritted his teeth.

_She was allowed to kill herself for a monster, but I wasn't allowed to miss a few nights' sleep to watch her do it?_

Jacob was upset about what Bella'd said, and being honest, he had all the reason to be upset.

"Get some rest, please. There're a few beds upstairs-you're welcome to any of them."

_Ugh. Of course you're not welcome!_

Rosalie was thinking while she looked at Jacob. With just seeing her look was enough to knoew that he wasn't welcome, not from her part at least.

Rosalie's look made Jacob wondered what she needed a bed for, or if it was because she was very protective of her props.

Well, we didn't need sleeping but…

I vanished that thought immediately, remembering what I'd thought I could do with Bella without consequences, and now we had to see where she was.

"Thanks, Bells, but I'd rather sleep on the ground. Away from the stench, you know."

Bella made a face, she didn't like much the comment. "Right."

Carlisle came back in that moment, the cup with more blood in his hand. Bella turned around to see him and stretched her hand toward the cup, it seemed she didn't think about what she was doing, as if it were a glass of water what it was given to her. The same way, she started drinking it.

Hope was growing inside of me. It had turned out better that something I'd believed it was monstrous, repulsive, of course it still was. But while Bella got better, I couldn't ignore the fact that it would be a good thing she kept drinking it.

Bella looked stronger, she moved forward to sit on the stretcher, I could see it wasn't much of a work for her and she could do it without help. Something that wouldn't have been possible a few minutes ago. Still, Rosalie was looking after her by her side, taking care she wouldn't fall in her try to move, but she didn't need anyone.

In just minutes, the time it took her to sit down, Bella had already drunk the blood that was inside the cup completely.

"How do you feel now?" Carlisle asked her.

"Not sick. Sort of hungry… only I'm not sure if I'm hungry or thirsty, you know."

In another moment, or rather in another situation, her words would've made me smile, but not now.

_Sure…_

"Carlisle, just look at her. This is obviously what her body wants. She should drink more."

Please!

Though I knew that her goal was to that thing to be born and were healthy and who knows what so many other stupid things more, it didn't stop surprising me that the only thing she cared about was that monster.

"She's still human, Rosalie. She needs food, too. Let's give her a little while to see how this affects her, and then maybe we can try some food again. Does anything sound particularly good to you, Bella?"

I remembered our days in the island, and almost the only thing Bella had been eating without trouble…

"Eggs." Bella answered without thinking. Her eyes crossed with mine, a smile in her lips and I couldn't help but smiling in response to her smile this time.

She really looked better!

As long as she got better, I felt better. Everything I wanted is that Bella wouldn't suffer.

Jacob blinked, and I saw how-according to him-he almost forgot how to open his eyes again.

He was tired and needed to sleep.

"Jacob. You really should sleep. As Bella said, you're certainly welcome to the accommodations here, though you'd probably be more comfortable outside. Don't worry about anything-I promise I'll find you if there's a need."

"Sure, sure."

Jacob murmured, thinking that as apparently Bella seemed to have still a few more hours, he could escape to sleep under some tree far away from the stench.

_The bloodsucker would wake me up if something went wrong. He owed me._

"I do." I answered him. Of course I would, he didn't have to doubt it.

Jacob nodded, and then he put one of his hands over Bella's hand. Feeling how freezing it was.

"Feel better."

"Thanks, Jacob." Bella turned her hand so she could take Jacob's, and squeezed it. Jacob felt the band of her wedding ring over his hand, spinning loose on her finger now that it was too thin.

"Get her a blanket or something." Jacob murmured while he turned toward the door.

Before he would have gone out the door, two howls broke into the quietness; there was an urgency in them. It wasn't a mistake this time.

"Dammit." Jacob growled and launched himself toward the door to get out faster, as soon as he were in the porch he gave another jump and changed his form to wolf. It was heard the sound that made his clothes when ripping apart.

_Crap. Those were the only clothes I had. Didn't matter now._

Jacob landed in the ground and sprinted off towards west.

_What is it?_ I heard Jacob asking.

_Incoming._ Seth was the one who answered. _At least three._

_Did they split up?_

"What is going on, Edward?" Carlisle asked.

Esme and Alice, Emmett and Jasper had come downstairs as soon as they heard the howling.

_Yes, brother. Are those the wolves?_

"It would seem so, three. That's what they think."

"Three?" Carlisle asked again.

"Ah, yes. Three wolves. From the other pack." I'd forgotten that Carlisle had asked me what was going on.

"Edward…" Bella talked to me, her tone worried.

"Don't worry, Bella. We don't know what they want."

"Can you hear them?"

"Just to Jacob, Seth and Leah."

Bella nodded. Her posture was tense.

_Seth, do not challenge them. Wait for me._

_They're slowing. Ugh-it's so off not being able to hear them. I think…_

_What?_

"It seems they're stopping." I told them all.

_I think they've stopped._

_Waiting for the rest of the pack?_

I decided not to tell them that, I didn't want them to worry if at least it was strictly necessary.

_Shh. Feel that?_

_Someone's phasing?_

_Feels like it._

"It seems someone is changing to his human form."

"Who?" Emmett asked.

"The other wolves."

_Don't you know who they are?_

"No, Emmett. Jacob or the other ones don't know yet."

Emmett nodded.

_They're coming._ I heard Seth thinking. _Slow. Walking._

Seth and Leah were already together, waiting for the visitors. Jacob wasn't still where they were and he felt bad about it, as if his obligation were to be between them and what was coming.

_Look who's getting all paternal._ Leah told him ironically.

_Head in the game, Leah._

_Four._ Seth said, listening better now. _Three wolves, one man._

"They're four, three of them are keeping their wolf form."

_So now I rank under Seth._ Leah growled to herself.

_First come, first served. 'Sides, you were never an Alpha's Third before. Still and upgrade._ Seth reminded her, a little smug.

_Under my baby brother is not an upgrade._

_Shh! I don't care where you stand. Shut up and get ready._ Jacob complained.

"Jacob's with Seth and Leah now."

_Everything fine, son?_ Carlisle asked me.

"Wait." I told them, in that moment I saw how they entered their view the other wolves.

For what I read in their minds, it was Jared who was coming in his human form, and the others were Paul, Quil and Collin. Jared came in first, at the front of the wolves, his hands up. The other three wolves behind him.

It seemed that their postures weren't aggressive. And for the little bit I could read, they hadn't come to fight, but I wasn't sure.

"I think… they're just coming to talk. But I'm not sure."

_What does Jacob say?_ Emmett and Carlisle asked me.

"He thinks the same I do."

Though it seemed odd to Jacob that Sam had sent the wolf named Collin, apparently he was one of the youngest members. He thought that if he'd wanted to attack, he would've sent Embry, the most experienced ones.

_A diversion?_ Leah asked.

_Were Sam, Embry and Brady making a move alone? That didn't seem likely._

_Want me to check? I can run the line and be back in two minutes._ Seth asked Jacob.

_What if the point was to divide us? The Cullens know something's up. They're ready._

"They think that it might be a diversion. Emmett, Jasper, could you check if you listen to someone else getting close?"

Both of them nodded. They came out to the porch and listened intently to any sound of claws running toward the house. But there was nothing.

_Sam wouldn't be so stupid…_ I heard Leah, and an image of the three wolves, Sam at the front, came to her mind, she imagined the three missing wolves attacking the house. It wasn't a very nice image, she saw how we finished with them easily. I could distinguish the fear that ran through Leah, imagining Sam dead by our hands.

_No, he wouldn't._ Jacob assured her.

_There's nothing, Edward._ Jasper thought.

He indicated Emmett with his head to come back inside the house.

"What's going on now, Edward?" Carlisle was the one who was making the questions.

"I don't know. Jacob hasn't decided yet to change to his human form. He's not sure."

Bella raised her hand to take mine in hers. I turned my look to her face, and there was still fear in it. I smiled a little bit, assuring her with my look to not worry.

I saw the kid named Jared cleared his throat, then inclining his head towards Jacob. _"White flag of truce, Jake. We're here to talk."_

"I think they're just here to talk. That's what they said, at least."

_Still we need to be ready._ Jasper was thinking.

_Think it's true?_ Seth asked.

_Makes sense, but…_

_Yeah. But._ Leah agreed with Jacob.

When none of the three ones reacted to what Jared said, he spoke again. _"It would be easier to talk if I could hear you, too."_

Jacob didn't want to phase until he was absolutely sure that that was what they wanted. Just talk. He still didn't understand why they had sent the wolf named Collin, it didn't make sense to him, and he didn't trust.

"_Okay, I guess I'll just talk then. Jake, we want you to come back."_ Jared told him.

"It seems that they want Jacob to be back to the pack."

The wolf name Quil let out a whine. Seemingly agreeing with the words of the kid.

"_You've torn our family apart. It's not meant to be this way."_

I listened how Jacob wasn't in agreement with the words of the kid, but he was thinking too that there were others issues in that moment between him and Sam, differences of opinion.

"_We know that you feel… strongly about the situation with the Cullens. We know that's a problem. But this is an overreaction."_

Seth growled. _Overreaction? And attacking our allies without warning isn't?_

_Seth, you ever heard of a poker face? Cool __**it**__._

_Sorry._

Jared's eyes moved from Seth to Jacob again. _"Sam is willing to take this slowly, Jacob. He's calmed down, talked to the other Elders. They've decided that immediate action is in no one's best interest at this point."_

"They've decided not to attack. The Elders believe it's not the best."

_So, did they really come to just talk?_

"I think so, Carlisle."

_Translation: They've already lost the element of surprise._ Leah thought.

"Leah thinks that they only decided not to attack because they lost the element of surprise. Which is very likely."

_Of course it is, bro. That's it._

"_Billy and Sue agree with you, Jacob, that we can wait for Bella… to be separated from the problem. Killing her is not something any of us feel comfortable with."_

I couldn't tell them that to none of them, Bella was listening. That would only make her feel worse.

Jacob growled, _so they didn't quite feel comfortable with murder, huh?_

The kid raised his hand when he heard Jacob. _"Easy, Jake. You know what I mean. The point is, we're going to wait and reassess the situation. Decide later if there's a problem with the… thing."_

_Ha. What a load._ Leah was thinking.

"They won't attack anyone unless… the fetus gave them real problems.

Bella sighed, apparently from relief. She surely was thinking that there would be no fight in the horizon then.

_You don't buy it?_

_I know what they're thinking, Jake. What Sam's thinking. They're betting on Bella dying anyway. And then they figure you'll be so mad…_

_That I'll lead the attack myself._ Jacob assumed.

He imagined what would happen if Bella actually died, how easy it would be to forget everything but we were his natural enemies, just a few bloodsuckers. He would forget how he felt about our family now.

_I'll remind you._ Seth told Jacob. The kid really did love our family, that it impressed me.

_I know you will, kid. Question is whether I'll listen to you._

He knew that would easily happen, and it wouldn't matter at all. If Bella died, he would want that to be my destiny, too.

"Leah thinks that if Bella… dies, Jacob would lead the attack himself. That's why they won't attack until all of this ends."

Bella shivered, and squeezed even more my hand. It was impressive the strength she had now.

"_Jake?"_ Jared asked.

_Leah, make a circuit-just to make sure. I'm going to have to talk to him, and I want to be positive there isn't anything else going on while I'm phased._

_Give me a break, Jacob. You can phase in front of me. Despite my best efforts, I've seen you naked before-doesn't do much for me, so no worries._

_I'm not trying to protect the innocence of your eyes, I'm trying to protect our backs. Get out of here._

Leah snorted once, and disappeared from Jacob's eyes. He still could hear her.

"Jacob's going to phase so he can talk to them."

"Is it safe, Edward?" Carlisle asked, a little worried.

I felt Bella's hand squeezed mine again.

"He sent Leah to check the circuit, just in case."

Carlisle nodded again.

_Do you think everything's going along, son?_

"I think it is."

The others wolves looked at the exact place where Leah had disappeared. Their expressions careful.

"_Where's she going?"_ Jared asked, maybe wondering if she were coming to warn us. As if that were possible from her!

Jacob ignored him. It wasn't as if he could answer him anyway. Not in his wolf form. He closed his eyes, cutting his vision, though he could still see everything from Seth. In just seconds, he started trembling, starting the phasing. He stood in his hind legs just in the moment when he changed to human.

"He's phased to human. Jacob."

"Will he be alright, Edward?" Bella asked me, a bit anxious.

I nodded, and turned to see her. "He will, love. Don't worry."

"_Oh. Hey, Jake."_

"_Hey, Jared."_

"_Thanks for talking to me."_

"_Yeah."_

"_We want you to come back, man."_

"They're asking him again to come back to Sam's pack."

The wolf named Quil whined again.

"_I don't if it's that easy, Jared."_

"_Come home."_ Jared begged him while leaning towards him. _"We can sort this out. You don't belong here. Let Seth and Leah come home, too."_

Jacob laughed. _"Right. Like I haven't been begging them to do that from hour one."_

Seth snorted when he heard him. It was true, something like that I'd heard suddenly. Jared didn't miss Seth's reaction. His eyes were still cautious.

"_So, what now, then?"_ Jared asked.

Jacob thought about the answer for a minute before speaking.

"They'll be back to La Push?" Rosalie asked, a little excited with that happening. Just a bit, because she knew that having them on our side was more protection to us.

"No." I shook my head.

_Agh._

"_I don't know. But I'm not sure things could just go back to normal anyway, Jared. I don't know how it works-it doesn't feel like I can just turn this Alpha off and on as the mood strikes. It feels sort of permanent."_

"_You still belong with us."_

Jacob raised his eyebrows. _"Two Alphas can't belong in the same place, Jared. Remember how close it got last night? The instinct is too competitive."_

"_So are you all just going to hand out with the parasites fort the rest of your lives? You don't have a home here. You're already out of clothes. You gonna stay wolf all the time? You know Leah doesn't like eating that way?_

I frowned when I heard what Jared was saying, he was right in that point at least.

_What's going on now, Edward?_ Carlisle asked, a little worried about my expression.

"The kid named Jared is trying to convince them to come back to their homes, giving them as an excuse that they don't have a home here. Jacob's out of clothes and Leah doesn't like eating in her wolf form."

_Ah! No problem there. Maybe…_ Esme started reviewing in her mind which rooms could each of the wolves sleep in, the food that was still in the kitchen and all the clothes Alice already had in bags to given them to charity.

"_Leah can do whatever she wants when she gets hungry. She's here by her own choice. I'm not telling anyone what to do."_

The wolf named Jared sighed before trying something else. _"Sam is sorry about what he did to you."_

Jacob nodded. _"I'm not angry anymore."_

"_But?"_

"_But I'm not coming back, not now. We're going to wait and see how it plays out, too. And we're going to watch out for the Cullens for as long as that seems necessary. Because, despite what you think, this isn't just about Bella. We're protecting those who should be protected. And that applies to the Cullens, too."_

_At least a fair number of them, anyway._

"It's decided. They're not coming back to Sam's pack, neither of them. They'll keep protecting Bella and our family."

I turned to see Carlisle, his face was-still-worried, and then I saw why.

_Is it a good idea, son?_

"The three of them are here because that's what they want, Carlisle. And our home is their home."

Esme sobbed a little.

"Of course it is, Edward. Maybe we should offer them the clothes Alice has already packed for charity. There's food, we can get more…"

I nodded in Esme's direction. "Sure, Esme. Alice and you can go and pick the biggest clothes you have, maybe Emmett's. We also have to bring the furniture back. Bella's better-" her face lightened when she heard my words. "-so maybe we can move her back to the couch. I know Jacob will be more comfortable with some furniture."

_Of course, Edward._

"Alice, could you come with me?"

Alice leaped up, excited, she was at Esme's side in a second, she took her hand and in two more seconds they were in Alice and Jasper's room, where they kept the clothes.

"Emmett, Jasper, if it's not much to bother, we need to get the furniture back to the room."

_Of course not, little brother._

"We'll be right back." Jasper answered, more serious than Emmett, of course.

"Do you think Bella doesn't need to be in the stretcher anymore, Carlisle?"

Carlisle shook his head. "No, I don't think so. She'll be fine when she's back to the couch." He turned to see her, and smiled. "How you're feeling, Bella?"

"Better than before. Less sick." Her eyes turned to my face. "So, are you getting out of me these needles?" there was a grimace in her face when she said needles.

"Actually, Bella… we're just leaving the intravenous. Until we tried with human food. What do you think?"

Bella sighed. "That's a change. I'll take it."

Rosalie took Bella in her arms before I could do it. Carlisle took all the medical equipment out the room to give some space to the furniture again. When the couch was again in the same spot that yesterday, Rosalie settled Bella down on it.

It seemed that Bella was more comfortable on the couch, of course she was, it was almost normal. Her skin was still cold, so Rosalie took care of her again, covering her with some blankets to keep her warm.

When they were done arranging the room as it was before, Emmett and Jasper came back upstairs. Esme and Alice were still picking up clothes to give Jacob. The change took about five minutes, I still could hear Jacob, though they were about to be finished. There was no need to worry really, they'd just come to talk as they'd said before.

Rosalie turned the TV after a moment, of course she wasn't watching it, her eyes passed more time watching Bella, and Bella spent the time watching at my eyes.

After a moment of comfortable silence for the first time, I started to listen to a strange sound.

"Do you hear that?"

Rosalie and Bella turned to see me, their eyes were confused.

_What?_

"What you're talking about, Edward?"

It was like a buzz, as if come bug were somewhere flying, I turned to see by my sides and I didn't see anything, neither listened to the sound again.

"Nothing, it was like a buzz."

_Maybe you're losing your gift, Edward. There's no buzz._

The two of them were back to what they were doing.

Bella kept looking into my eyes, and I into hers. It always made me feel like in heaven every time I looked in the depths of her chocolate brown eyes, they were so beautiful.

At the end of the day, something so monstrous and repulsive turned out in something good.

Bella was better, her voice and her image looked stronger, healthier.

Maybe we would get out of this nightmare faster than I thought, but Bella holding my hand, her skin glowing and beautiful, her smile the same one I so much loved.

Her eyes… red.

But at the end, it would be my Bella.

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	15. Chapter 14, FRACTURE

**Hi girls! Again, I'm here.**

**I'm a little bit sad because I don't get as much reviews, as much enthusiasm from you guys, so that makes me blue. It's really hard work for me to do this story, 'cause I'm not american, I'm mexican, so I don't think in English, as someone told me in a review. Sorry about that... maybe it's not as perfect as you'd want, but I'm trying to do my best.**

**I hope this chapter is a little better than the past ones.**

**And that you can enjoy it, no matter the mistakes I make.**

**And please, PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you.**

**Oh, and I'm not using Google to translate this story, it's all coming from my head, I've studied some English since I'm six. =D And I really love writing in this language.**

**Ok, go ahead and read it.**

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CHAPTER 14. Fracture

It seemed that after a few days of worry surrounding the atmosphere in the house, we finally saw us surrounded by a little peace.

Sam and the pack, according to what that kid had said, Jared, they wouldn't attack our family until they knew what they were dealing with, and if the… fetus actually was considered a threat. They would wait until they were sure what it was so they would decide what to do. That made Bella more relaxed.

On the other side, Bella was really looking better, her color was the same one I knew, her white skin with a pink tone. Her hair looked shiny, even her skin did. Her voice was the same one now, it didn't cost her much work breathing and her heart, it was beating stronger, it was almost the same one from always. Bella had now the strength enough to move without needing Rosalie or anyone else to help her.

It gave me a little bit more of peace of mind to see that my angel was almost the same one she had been before this entire nightmare. That something good had come out of this monstrosity she had been forced to do.

Still, there was something odd I couldn't explain to myself.

I might have finished to get crazy in these days, but there was a buzz inside my head I couldn't put a name on it or an owner.

Rosalie was looking at me as if I had a problem, she had considered seriously that my ability to read minds was deteriorating, or that I was overreacting. Neither Rosalie, nor Bella, could hear that little noise that it was bothering me so much for moments. It turned off and on. Something it got louder than other times.

I wouldn't rest until know what it was. But I couldn't concentrate much on it, my priority was Bella.

Though we were now sure that the human blood was what the fetus wanted, and seemingly, both of them were reacting to it in a favorable way, I couldn't get out of my head the idea that both of them would gain strength, and that thing could hurt Bella even more, it still had much left to grow…

But I didn't want to think about that, not yet, because though I would want to avoid thinking positively, having hope in me, I knew I couldn't.

When I saw the hope in her face, when I listened to her voice, her breathing come and go quietly, when I listened to her heartbeats, everything was like a push toward hope.

Still, I knew the possibility stayed fifty-fifty.

Rosalie was the more optimistic; she didn't truly believe that Bella could maintain that level of optimism and happiness, though she tried.

I so much doubted that the next time Charlie called, Bella would take a no for an answer, she would want to speak with him, she would want to tell him that she was getting better, to not worry, even when her words weren't one hundred percent true.

Rosalie had brought another cup with blood for Bella to keep drinking if she wanted to, just in case she gets thirsty, she'd given me as an excuse. I knew that it wasn't because of that, she wanted Bella to keep going that way so the fetus would get better.

When Rosalie moved to the side, Carlisle began checking that Bella would be fine; he even considered the idea of her eating some human food, not blood. Rosalie had made a face when she listened to Carlisle, after everything she'd brought her more blood already. If it were for Rosalie, that would be the only and exclusively thing Bella would drink until she were a vampire or… she were a vampire.

"Bella, I think we should try to give you some food. To see how you body reacts. What do you think?"

His eyes had passed from Bella to me.

_I don't see her very convinced, Edward…_

"I think it's a good idea, Bella, love." My fingertips had touched her cheek, and for the first time in weeks, she blushed. I was able to smile a bit. "What do you say?"

Bella had bitten her lower lip, her eyes a little unfocused. After all this time, and everything she'd been through because of my fault, did I still dazzle her?

How was it possible that such a good and perfect angel had fallen in love with a monster?

I would never learn the answer to that question, but for the moment, I couldn't find the way to care about it. And I knew that was wrong. It should've mattered to me. But it was too late now.

"Okay. Let's try it." She'd sighed deeply.

_Edward! The best thing for them it's the blood, isn't it obvious?_

In that moment, Alice and Esme came downstairs with a bag full with clothes. They'd finished picking up what Jacob could probably wear.

_Done. What do we do with them?_

"You could leave them in the porch. Jacob will know what to do with them."

Alice nodded quickly, and stormed out of the room in a second; she left the clothes in the last step, and came back in another second.

_It's ready, Edward._

"Thanks, Alice. Esme."

Both of them nodded. _You're welcome, son._ Esme answered.

Then I heard at Jacob running towards the house, his thoughts were louder with every step he took. Alice was already upstairs with Jasper and Emmett. Esme had stayed with Carlisle.

"Jacob's coming."

_Are we never going to get rid of that dog?_ Rosalie was thinking.

"Do you think we should meet him at the door again, Edward?" Carlisle asked me. _And we'll forget about Bella's food for now…_

I thought about it for a second, Jacob was still a few feets from the house. Jacob, as I saw it, was almost part of the family in these moments, he didn't need and invitation or someone to open the door for him and told him to come in or not. It wasn't as if he was going to listen anyway. Bella would always want to see him, I could see it in her eyes again when she heard that I said he was coming.

"No, I don't think that's necessary."

Carlisle nodded. He turned to Esme, and gave her a smile, then he took her hand and they walked towards the glass wall, which was still closed.

_I don't think we need this anymore…_ Esme thought, while she walked toward the bottom to open the glass window. Even Bella would enjoy that change, it was even more normal. A smile appeared in her lips.

I put Bella's feet over my lap, and Rosalie sat on the floor at Bella's head.

In that second I saw Jacob coming into the garden.

The first thing he noticed was that there was no one outside the house waiting to meet him. Waiting for his report. But there was no need, no this time.

_Still on alert?_ Jacob wondered to himself, he didn't know that I'd been able to listen most of their conversation.

_Everything's cool._ Jacob thought, waiting for us to calm down maybe. His thoughts were tired, he hadn't slept much in these last hours.

His eyes quickly rested on the little change in the entrance of the house. Now that it was too familiar for him because of the time he was passing inside the house. He saw the pile of clothes Alice had left for him on the stairs. She'd gotten them out so Jacob would realize what it was, and knew the purpose why they were there.

Jacob came closer to the pile of clothes to see what they were, or rather, to make sure that it was what he thought. I saw him coming closer, holding his breath, because for him the vampire smell was too strong, and the smell was impregnated to the fabric.

_Some had laid out clothes. Huh. Edward must have caught my moment of irritation as I'd bolted out the door. Well. That was… nice. And weird._

It was something good that it was me who could hear his thought and not Esme or Alice.

He took the clothes between his teeth carefully. The smell was almost intolerable. He took them to the trees. So nobody could seem him while he got dressed. He didn't want this to be a joke from Rosalie, and they were women's clothes.

"Where's Jacob?" Bella asked me. There was some of anxiety in her tone.

"He's coming in a moment, Bella." I turned to see her and smiled. And as I thought, in her eyes were the anxiety I listened in her voice.

Why did it have to make her day better seeing Jacob?

Jacob was still behind the trees fixing the clothes he had put on so it fit him better. He couldn't say he was very grateful, but at least he hadn't rejected them. The vampire smell was what it bothered him the most. It wasn't as if one of us would've liked to wear his clothes.

Esme had smiled a little when she'd hear Jacob snapping the clothes against a tree to take some of the smell off. Rosalie on the other hand…

_What does that dog think he is? That he smells better than us? Please!_

_I had to admit, I felt better with some clothes to my name, even stinky ones that didn't quite fit._ Jacob thought when he was done.

It was the closest to his size, and it was Emmett's. It would be easier to get Seth clothes and Leah. Thought it would be really unnecessary with Leah. Seth was another matter; the boy would take whatever it was without complaining. And he had a size more considerable, maybe like Jasper or me.

_The homeless thing again-not having a place to go back to. No possessions, either, which wasn't bothering me too bad now, but would probably get annoying soon._

Both of them turned to see me, and Esme stayed staring.

_Son, you have to talk to Jacob privately. Tell him they don't have anything to worry about, they have a home here and what they need. Clothes, food… please, Edward. It would make me feel a little better. Those poor kids are here to help us._

I barely nodded. Only Esme noticed it. She smiled at me and turned her face again to the outside view.

Jacob came into the garden again; his expression was one of terrible exhaustion. His steps were slow, as if he didn't want to keep walking and simply fell asleep. In minutes he got to the stairs and came up to the porch.

_Did I knock? Stupid, when they knew I was here._

I almost smiled. Yes, we already knew he was there. But it was time for Jacob to feel home, there was no more need for someone to greet him at the door so he could come into the house.

Bella seemed to not know where to put her eyes, a minute they were on my face and the other on the door. Waiting for Jacob to walk through the door across the room. I still didn't understand why she wanted him so much into her life. But it wasn't something I was going to ask her, if Bella was happy, then… so was I.

But it was difficult for me to be happy with her, when the reason of her happiness was Jacob.

The door opened, and Jacob came in. of course he noticed the change in the room. We'd changed the hospital look in just five minutes, which for him had been the twenty minutes he'd been outside of the house.

Jacob looked around the room, noticing again the change inside the room.

The clothes Alice had left outside were truly not his size. The pants were too short for his height, the shirt was something easier to fix.

Everyone had noted his entrance to the room, except for Bella that had her eyes on my face at that moment. She hadn't turned to see toward the door, nor had I. The vampire and wolf smell were mixed in the clothes he was now wearing.

_Ugh! I hope this dog won't come back soon. We'll never get rid of the stink…_

_Oh, he accepted them. I'm glad he's wearing the clothes._

Every thought of the members of my family was so different, I didn't have to read their minds to know what everyone of them were thinking in that moment, but it was a great help. More in these moments, without my ability Bella might still be too sick, we hadn't gotten to the conclusion that she should drink blood without Jacob's help. I owed him my gratitude again.

When her eyes rested on me, I turned to see him and smiled.

Yes, it was good to have him here. So far.

I had a lot of things to thank him for; I owed him more than my gratitude. Bella's life had been saved in several times thanks to him. I couldn't hate him, not now.

Jacob turned to see Bella; her eyes had turned to him when she saw that I'd turned towards the door and smiled at someone. Bella smiled, but it was a smile I hadn't seen not even when it was dedicated to me. Her face lightened, it was as if she were looking at the sun, it was unbelievable the love I saw in her eyes.

How was that possible? Did she really love us both the same way?

It couldn't be possible. But it was. For as much as it hurt me to accept it, I'd known it since before, Bella loved Jacob, and although for some inconceivable miracle, Bella had chosen me to spend the rest of the eternity at her side, she also loved Jacob. After all this time.

_What was with her? For crying out loud, she was married! Happily married, too—there was no question that she was in love with her vampire past the boundaries of sanity. And hugely pregnant, to top it off._

It was the same question I made to myself. Bella looked happier seeing Jacob than any other person in the planet, even more than me.

_So why did she have to be so damn thrilled to see me? Like I'd her whole freakin' day by walking through the door._

It hurt as he didn't have any idea, it was worse than feeling simple jealousy, it was worse and that made it only more hurtful. How could I be jealous of him, when Bella had rejected him over and over again, when she had preferred to stay with a monster which I was the father of it and it was killing her just for being with me for the rest of eternity? But if she wanted me, why couldn't she let go of Jacob?

_If she would just not care… Or more than that-really not want me around. It would be so much easier to stay away._

My eyes had rested on Bella; her face was still shining by seeing him. It didn't even make sense, but I saw it in Jacob's mind, my forehead had frowned while I saw the expression on Bella's face.

I agreed with Jacob. How could I not? It would even be easier to me that Jacob weren't here with us. But I couldn't be selfish, and Bella wanted him, so I accepted it.

"They just wanted to talk. No attack on the horizon." Jacob told me, his voice was barely a whisper, he was exhausted.

"Yes, I heard most of it." I answered him, and that woke him up for a moment.

It was expected. Considering that they'd been like three miles away from here. But I could listen from two or even three miles away, the more familiar the voice was. In my head I repeated the night in which I'd explained to Bella how it worked the mind-reading thing.

"How?" Jacob asked.

"I'm hearing you more clearly-it's a matter of familiarity and concentration. Also, your thoughts are slightly easier to pick up when you're on your human form. So I caught most of what passed out there."

"Oh." _It bugged me a little, but for no good reason, so I shrugged it off._ "Good. I hate repeating myself."

"I'd tell you to go get some sleep, but my guess is that you're going to pass out on the floor in about six seconds, so there's probably no point." Bella told him. Jacob noticed the change, the improvement.

He smelled the fresh blood that was in the cup Bella was holding in her hands. Bella had been drinking sips of blood during this twenty minutes, it seemed like she didn't even remember that it was human blood she was drinking instead of water or milk, any edible liquid for humans.

_How much blood would it take to keep her going? At some point, would they start trotting in the neighbors?_

It was ridiculous how Jacob kept thinking that way sometimes.

Without saying another word he walked towards the door again. Counting the seconds for her, according to what I heard. I didn't like much that he thought that way, that he was so pessimistic, and that he saw that the only ending Bella could have, was death.

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi…"

"Where's the flood, mutt?" Rosalie asked him.

"You know how you drowned a blonde, Rosalie?" I saw the answer on both of them before Jacob said it. He hadn't even turned to see her. "Glue a mirror to the bottom of a pool."

Without being able to help it, even when Rosalie had already heard that joke, it made me laugh.

Jacob closed the door, and Rosalie murmured. "I've already heard that one." _You stinky dog!_

I heard Jacob going downstairs towards the garden. The only thing he was thinking about in that moment, was in going away as far as possible into the woods where the air would be clean and pure from our odor. It hasn't been more than five second that Jacob had crossed the door, when Esme reminded me.

_Edward, you've got to talk to him. Now is better._

Her face had turned towards me. I narrowed my eyes, remembering the tiredness I'd read in his mind and it'd been obvious in his expression. I didn't believe he would thank that I'd interrupt what he want to do the most at that moment.

_Please, son! It won't take too long…_

What could I do? It was almost mean to deny something to Esme, when she begged you that way.

It would also be good, to talk to him once and for all. To let him rest as he wanted, maybe when he awakened he'd talk to Seth and Leah about it. We would waste less of our time later with the same conversation. And he was at just a few paces.

_Edward!_

I raised a bit Bella's legs off my lap so I could move. Her eyes got anxious immediately. I stood up and left over the sofa her legs.

"Where are you going?" Bella asked me.

"There was something I forgot to say to him." Esme wouldn't leave me until I spoke to him.

"Let Jacob sleep-it can wait."

_Yes, please, let Jacob sleep._ Jacob thought when he heard what we were talking about.

"It will only take a moment."

I walked toward the door, in a second I was already getting out to the porch. Jacob turned slowly toward me. I didn't like having to interrupt him, I knew how tired he was, but Esme had been insisting.

In my face was evident that I wasn't content with bothering him. I saw it in his mind.

"Jeez, what now?"

"I'm sorry." it was a little bit uncomfortable to have to talk about this issue with Jacob, knowing with more certainty which would be the answers. The odds that Leah would accept something from my family were few, or rather none. But Esme had asked me to, so…

_What's on your mind, mind-reader?_

Well, that's what I had come for, anyway. "When you were speaking to Sam's delegates earlier. I was giving a play-by-play for Carlisle and Esme and the rest. They were concerned-"

"Look, we're not dropping our guard." Jacob interrupted me, misunderstanding the worry of Carlisle and Esme. "You don't have to believe Sam like we do. We're keeping our eyes regardless."

"No, no, Jacob. Not about that. We trust your judgment. Rather, Esme was troubled by the hardships this is putting your pack through. She asked me to speak to you privately about it."

"Hardships?" Jacob asked me confused; he didn't expect what I'd said to him.

"The homeless part, particularly. She's very upset that you are all so… bereft."

Jacob snorted. It was the third time I thanked this gift was mine, and no one else's, like Esme. _Vampire mother hen-bizarre._ "We're tough. Tell her not to worry."

"She'd still like to do what she can. I got the impression that Leah prefers not to eat in her wolf form?"

"And?"

"Well, we do have human food here, Jacob. Keeping up appearances, and, of course, for Bella. Leah is welcome to anything she'd like. All of you are."

"I'll pass that along."

That wasn't enough. I could hear Esme. "Leah hates us."

"So?"

"So try to pass it along in such a way as to make her consider it, if you don't mind."

"I'll do what I can."

Well, food's issue was talked already. "And then there's the matter of clothes."

Jacob turned down to see the clothes he was now wearing. "Oh yeah. Thanks."

_It probably wouldn't be good manners to mention how bad they reeked._

I smiled a little. He didn't need to mention it out loud, I could read it, and anyone of us knew, it was the same for us with them. "Well, we're easily able to help out with any needs there. Alice rarely allows us to wear the same thing twice. We've got piles of brand-new clothes that are destined for Goodwill, and I'd imagine Leah is fairly close to Esme's size…"

"Not sure how she'll feel about bloodsucker castoffs. She's not as practical as I am."

Of course not.

"I trust that you can present the offer in the best possible light. As well as the offer for any other physical object you might need, or transportation, or anything else at all. And showers, too, since you prefer to sleep outdoors. Please… don't consider yourselves without the benefits of a home."

Jacob didn't answer for a few seconds, thinking in what I just told him. Every word had been sincere, though Esme had asked me to, I wouldn't have doubted to offer them the same thing. This was much their home as it was ours. They shouldn't doubt it.

"That's, er, nice of you. Tell Esme we appreciate the, uh, thought. But the perimeter cuts through the river in a few places, so we stay pretty clean, thanks."

"If you would pass the offer on, regardless."

"Sure, sure."

"Thank you."

Well… it was done now. Esme would feel better after this. Both of us turned toward the place we were now directed to, Jacob inside the woods to sleep and I back to the house.

Then I heard Bella screaming out in pain.

_Ouch!_

_I think it was a fracture…_

What happened?

Before Jacob had an opportunity to think about what just happened, I was already inside of the house. When I came in, Esme, Carlisle and Rosalie were by Bella's side. Rosalie was holding her head, Bella was gasping, her face and her eyes reflecting her pain.

That monster!

It was like I'd feared. That thing had become stronger, just as Bella had gotten better. Was there a different way to get out of this nightmare?

I was by her side in another second. "What's the matter, Carlisle? Bella, are you alright?"

_I think it was a rib, Edward._

Bella still couldn't breathe right, she couldn't answer me. Her body was curled up over her stomach.

_Edward, don't worry. It's all going to be okay…_

Esme repeated to me, but I was tired of listening the same thing from her all the time. It wasn't as if I was going to ask her not to tell that anymore, I didn't want to be rude with Esme.

_It's just a rib. Babies break their mom's bones all the time…_

Rosalie was thinking, trying to calm me down and herself, it wasn't a thought that was directed to me directly. I heard Jacob coming in after a few seconds, he'd stayed stood at the door.

"Bella…"

"Give me a second, Carlisle." Bella told him gasping.

What could I do?

"Bella, I hear something crack. I need to take a look." Carlisle told her, anxious. He was a little worried for what I already knew.

That monster was even stronger than Bella now that we'd given it what it wanted.

"Pretty sure" she said between gasps. "it was a rib. Ow. Yep. Right there." Bella told Carlisle, pointing to her left side where that thing had hurt her.

_It was breaking her bones now._

I heard Jacob thinking from the door. I didn't even have the energy enough to turn around to see him and inform him of what was happening. I was too worried about Bella.

"I need to take an X-ray. There might be splinters. We don't want it to puncture anything."

Bella didn't like being treated medically at all, she took a deep breath before she answered Carlisle. "Okay."

Before I had the time to react, Rosalie was already raising Bella in her arms off. Carefully not to hurt her anymore. I felt it was my job, she was my wife, it was me who had the obligation of being in charge of her, of taking care of her, but Rosalie was always there to take me away from Bella.

I was about to argue with her, Rosalie seeing what I was going to do. She growled at me.

_Stay away, Edward._

"I've got her."

_Easy, son. Bella's the priority. Come on._

Jacob noticed what I had feared before subjecting Bella to drink human blood. It was something almost obvious, that was what the fetus wanted, so it was clear that it was going to get stronger. Stronger than Bella.

_No way to win._

No, there wasn't. And that hurt. What was going to happen with her, when it was strong enough to kill her? How was I going to prevent it?

Rosalie came upstairs as fast as she could, being careful of every movement. Carlisle and I followed her. None of the four of us turned to see Jacob who was still standing at the door. I didn't see the way to stop looking at Bella with Carlisle and Rosalie just to explain to him what was happening. I couldn't leave her alone. She needed me, as I needed to be by her side.

We passed Alice who was standing at the top of the stairs. She hadn't wanted to come downstairs and see Bella, knowing that she couldn't do anything about it, and that Rosalie wouldn't allow her to anyway. Her lack of vision with her, had her worse than before, now that the fetus was stronger…

_Good luck!_

I nodded, and kept walking behind Rosalie.

We walked towards Carlisle's office, where he had all the necessary equipment to treat Bella, her eyes went to the X-ray machine, not very happy.

"Bella, love, how are you?"

"It's just a rib, Edward. It doesn't hurt anymore." but at that moment Rosalie put her over the stretcher to begin, and a little whimper escaped her lips. "Okay, just a little." She showed me a smile, but I didn't have the energy to smile back.

"Well, Bella. Let's see what it was, exactly."

Bella nodded.

Carlisle started working, and Rosalie never took her look off Bella, not even for a second. What was she expecting, that we crushed them both?

"Carlisle?"

"It seems that it was only a rib, Edward. Don't worry."

Don't worry? What was with everyone today, did they think that some day I would stop worrying about her when seeing her screaming out of pain, no matter what the reason was? It was exasperating how they tried to calm me down with those words. They didn't have any effect on me.

I listened to Alice coming down the stairs, and walking towards Jacob who had let himself fall onto the floor because of tiredness.

"Do you want a pillow?" Alice asked Jacob.

_What do I know! But that doesn't look comfortable. Well…_

"No." was all Jacob answered to her. Fortunately it was Alice and not Esme the one who offered him the pillow.

_Mmmm…_

_What was with the pushy hospitality? It was creeping me out._

"That doesn't look comfortable." Alice insisted.

"S'not."

"Why don't you move then?"

Alice wasn't getting tired, and Jacob was already tired. That was the main reason of his rudeness with her.

"Tired. Why aren't you upstairs with the rest of them?"

"Headache." Alice answered.

"Vampires get headaches?"

"Not the normal ones."

"So how come you're never with Bella anymore?" Jacob asked Alice, making his question sound more like an accusation.

We all knew well that Bella and live got along. They were best friends, such as she had once predicted. But this situation about her pregnancy prevented her to be by her side as long as Alice or even Bella would want. Plus, it wasn't as if Rosalie allowed Bella to have an audience, or more company than necessary, meaning, her. I was by her side, only because Bella wanted it that way, because if it were for Rosalie, she wouldn't let me be by Bella's side.

"Thought you two were like this." Jacob told her, while intertwining his fingers.

"Like I said-headache." Alice answered him again, she had curled up close to Jacob.

"Bella's giving you a headache?"

"Yes."

It was good that Bella couldn't hear anything that Alice and Jacob were talking about, because even when Alice had already explained to her why she couldn't spend so much time around her, Bella would've felt hurt, and not much because of her, but because of Alice. She hated to make other people feel bad. Specially, Alice.

"Not Bella, really. The… fetus."

Alice had problems with that thing as much as I did. She hated to see how it hurt Bella.

_Ah, someone else who felt like I did. It was pretty easy to recognize. She said the word grudgingly, the way Edward did._

"I can't see it. I can't see anything about it. Just like you."

Jacob shuddered; I heard his teeth grinding together. Holding back his fury when listening to what Alice had said. He didn't like being compared to that thing. But Alice was right, at least in that point.

_What would it be? Why can't I see any of them?_

Alice was wondering.

"Bella gets in the way. She's all wrapped around it, so she's… blurry. Like bad reception on a TV-like trying to focus your eyes on those fuzzy people jerking around on the screen. It's killing my head to watch her. And I can't see more than a few minutes ahead, anyway. The… fetus is too much a part of her future. When she first decided… when she knew she wanted it, she blurred right out of my sight. Scared me to death." Alice was explaining Jacob why she had headaches.

Alice stayed quiet for a second. Carlisle was done checking Bella out at that moment. As we had feared, it was a rib. That was just the beginning, I knew.

"How do you feel, Bella?"

"Fine. It doesn't hurt that bad. I've had worse."

"I have to admit, it's a relief having you close by—in spite of the wet-dog smell. Everything goes away. Like having my eyes closed. It numbs the headache."

"Happy to be of service, ma'am."

_He's got good sense of humor._

"I wonder what it has in common with you… why you're the same that way."

Carlisle, having heard everything, wondered the same thing.

Bella and Rosalie had kept in silent while Carlisle was working on Bella's broken rib.

"I have nothing in common with that life-sucker," Jacob could barely say. The fury in his voice was evident.

Alice ignored him. "Well, there's something there."

"We're almost done, Carlisle?" Bella asked him, a little anxious.

"Almost, Bella." Carlisle answered her with a slight smile.

_She really hates hospitals or close._

"You don't mind if I sit here by you, do you?"

"Guess not. Stinks anyway."

_Good!_

"Thanks. This is the best thing for it, I guess, since I can't take aspirin."

"Could you keep it down? Sleeping, here."

_Sure._ Alice answered in her mind, and stayed silent. Jacob was already asleep. Seconds later, Carlisle finished treating Bella's rib, and decided she could already move back to the couch.

"Edward?"

Bella said to me, while turning to see Rosalie, begging.

"Could you take me?" a slight red color brightening her cheeks.

_Damn! Be careful with her, Edward._

I didn't even turn to look at Rosalie; I walked closer to Bella and took her carefully in my arms. Hers were surrounding my neck, her face laid over my chest. We came downstairs at an even slower pace than a human's. Bella seemed to have no hurry in getting to the couch. Every step that took us closer, I felt her arms tightening stronger around my neck.

When we got to the ending of the staircase, Alice turned to see us.

"How are you, Bella?"

Bella smiled at her. "Good. Carlisle's an excellent doctor."

I hated Bella's attitude in regards to all this situation, as if it weren't anything out of normal what was happening to her, as if it were the most normal that a… baby were killing its mother.

"Jacob's been asleep for long?"

"Just a few minutes. He was really tired, was he?" Alice turned to see me.

"He was. Let's try not to wake him up."

Alice nodded. We kept walking towards the couch, Rosalie behind us. I put her softly over the couch, and Rosalie got herself by her side in another second.

"Are you hungry, Bella?"

Her cheeks got red again. "A little bit, yeah. Do you think that…?"

"I'll be right back." Rosalie smiled at her warmly. That was what it seemed on the outside.

Night passed quickly. Two hours before dawn, I hear a wolf's footsteps coming closer to the house. Everybody got tense, except Bella who was asleep. Then I listened to the thoughts, Seth.

"It's just Seth."

"Something's wrong?"

_Agh, Leah. I bet Jacob must've fallen asleep in his human form. How can she believe that Edward or the others would kill him? Please!_

"He's coming looking for Jacob."

_Oh, well._

Seth phased back to human in the garden, and came walking slowly towards the house. There wasn't much light or movement that said the house was inhabited.

_Edward? There's someone?_

"Carlisle, could you meet Seth at the entrance, please?"

_Of course I can, son._

Carlisle was at the door in a second; Seth was barely coming up the stairs to the porch. He got surprised a little when he saw Carlisle, and then relaxed.

"Hi, Carlisle."

"Seth, how are you?"

"Nah, I'm okay. Is…?" _Jacob?_

"Why don't you come in?"

Seth nodded, then smiled a bit shyly and came inside, his eyes looking over the entire house.

"Wow. It's the same one from the last time, isn't it?"

Carlisle smiled, and pointed with his hand to the room where we were.

"Hey, hi, Edward!"

_I just came looking for Jacob._

"Hello, Seth." I smiled at him, and turned to see toward the door. How haven't he seen him? His eyes had been more occupied looking over the room. "Jacob's there. He's asleep."

_I told Leah._ "Oh, I knew it."

I smiled at Seth. Bella woke up then. Her eyes blinked a few times before opening completely, the first thing she saw was Seth smiling down at her. "Hi, Seth. Come and sit with me." She said, trying to sit.

Bella had been sleeping soundly, but as soon as I was her eyes starting to open, a few drops of sweat started forming on her forehead. I put my hands over her hands, they were boiling. I pulled Bella to my side so the cold of my skin would keep her temperature lower, she turned to see my face and smiled.

"Ah? I don't know, I just came to see if Jacob was here."

Esme came downstairs at that moment. "Seth, please, stay with us. Eat some breakfast."

"Ah?" _Leah would get pissed, but…_

"What do you say, Seth?"

"Of course. Thank, Esme." He answered and walked to the couch to sit as Bella had asked him.

Esme smiled. Then I saw Bella turning to see Seth, who had been too quiet since he'd sat down next to her.

She smiled at him before speaking. "How you've been, Seth?"

"Good, Bella. It's great to be around here."

Both of them smiled. Seth took a look on me and when seeing my face, still serious and a bit upset with what Bella had done, stopped smiling.

_Sorry, Edward._

"Don't worry, Seth." I made my voice to sound affectionate, it wasn't something hard to do when it was Seth.

We were talking a bit, until Bella's temperature got so low in such a way that Bella were shaking from the coldness. I pushed her away from me, and Bella held on to me.

"Bella, you're shaking. Let Seth warm you. You need it." She nodded in a reluctant way, and moved to Seth's side so her body would absorb the warm his body emanated.

"And how's the little baby-?" Seth couldn't finish asking.

Bella gasped and her hands flew to her mouth and stomach. "Bella, are you okay?"

Seth was so scared, that he didn't know what do or say.

"Auch. I think it's another rib."

Her eyes were still wet, holding back the scream of pain like the one we'd hear yesterday. Carlisle was at my side at once, and Rosalie in front of Bella. I saw how Seth cringed into the sofa with Rosalie so close to him. Her look had crossed with his for a second, and it was full of fury, Seth shuddered.

"Another rib, Bella?"

Bella nodded. The effort she'd made to stay quiet, had yet not allow her to breathe right. Across her cheeks had fallen a few tears.

"We'll have to get another radiography, Bella. I'm sorry."

She nodded again. She knew there was no other option. Rosalie took her in her arms again, and I stood. Bella turned to see me. "No, Edward.

Didn't she want me with her?

"Stay with Seth. I'll be right back." She smiled slightly, and her face stared at the front.

_Is it breaking her bones?_ Seth wondered, it wasn't directed to me, still I answered.

"Yes, Seth. I fear for what can do to her after."

I could see my face in his mind. It was twisted with pain. What else could I feel? It was like destiny was playing with me. As if it were a roller coaster. Bella was getting better, but that thing was, too, and now it was breaking her bones. The room became silent for a minute. We only listened to Carlisle, Bella and Rosalie upstairs. But a sound came back to my mind, that sound that had been tormenting me since days ago, tormenting me because I didn't know what it was, because only I listened to it.

"Do you listen to that noise, Seth? It's like a buzz."

_?_ "No. Not that I know."

But I couldn't read the sound in his mind, it was only in mine. Maybe I was really going crazy, listening to sound that weren't there.

_Edward? Can I ask you something?_

I smiled a little at the hesitancy I heard in his mind, as if he were afraid that his question was going to annoy me or something of the sort. "Of course you can, Seth. Whatever it is."

"Well… it's just that I was wondering, why don't you go, or rather, why didn't you leave Forks when we came to warn you about what Sam wanted to do?

I listened intently to what Seth told me, mainly, to make Seth see that he could talk quite freely. It seemed odd to me that he needed that kind of reassurance. But I could see, too, that it wasn't something he wanted us to do.

"I don't know; maybe go up with Tanya or somewhere far away for Sam to come after you."

"No, Seth. We're not leaving."

_Why not, Edward? It seems logical._

"It is. But it's not practical in this situation."

_Why not?_

"Look, Seth, Carlisle is a doctor, right?" Seth nodded. "He's got all the necessary credential to make use of the medical equipment he wants of needs like in this case. It takes some time to build up all the medical access we need to treat Bella, Seth. Carlisle can only get more blood in this state, he's got the permissions he needs to buy more blood-?"

"Can you buy blood?"

I held back a smile. "That's right, Seth. Doctors can."

_Wow. But it's not like you need…?_

"We would never get human blood that way."

_Right. I know._

"The blood Bella's been drinking so far, they got it before returning from… our honeymoon. Just in case Bella needed it, you know."

_Oh._

"The one he had stored up is running out, Bella's using it up too fast. That's one of the reasons why Carlisle wants to go hunting, it is clear that Bella is going to need more blood, there's still some days left for the… fetus to be born."

"Is it necessary to get it legally? I mean you guys can get it any other way, I don't think that's too hard."

"No. I'm not risking Bella to get hurt by moving her from this place in these moments. She can't move herself alone; I think you already noticed that."

Seth didn't have time to ask something more; I heard Rosalie and Carlisle coming downstairs. Of course Rosalie was carrying Bella in her arms. There was no trace of pain in her face, or she'd become to good at hiding the pain she felt, it wouldn't be something strange. It was becoming a habit that Bella suffered for something, whatever, that she was almost an expert. Both of us turned toward her when they came closer to the couch, and Bella smiled at us.

"I'm fine. It was another rib, as I thought. But I'm good again. Thanks to Carlisle." She turned to see him and gave him another smile.

"I noticed Edward that her temperature is going up and down in an uncontrolled way…"

"I know, Carlisle. What should we do?"

_I don't know, Edward._

"I'm not sure what to do about it, maybe she's just sick. Her immune system isn't working as it should."

I frowned, I didn't like when there was nothing we could do to make Bella feel better. Rosalie put her back again between me and Seth. Her skin was how in that moment, so she herself huddled up by my side without having to tell her. Carlisle decided not to put her again the IV, Bella didn't need it anymore. Her skin had recovered her color completely, a beautiful pink color as background to her white. Her hair had recovered almost all of its bright.

"How's your rib? Does it hurt?"

"It's fine, Edward. You know? You shouldn't overreact. It's well known that human babies have broken their mothers' bones. This baby isn't the first one." Rosalie answered me.

How could she tell me that? That wasn't a baby, it was a monster. It didn't even have to be human to hurt its mother, that was its nature, a monster just like its father. I was very, very close to ripping her head off for saying what she said.

Alice came downstairs at that moment, distracting me, she had in her hands a pile of clothes she'd chosen for Seth, too.

_I think this will fit._ She thought while coming closer.

"Hey, Seth. Do you thing you'd accept some of clothes? It's almost new, I just let jasper use it _once_. What do you say?"

_Wow. Once?_

"I'd love to. True is that I only have this set of clothes I'm wearing and nothing else."

She came closer, and she took him by the hand. Seth didn't even shiver. "And you could make him some of food while we come back, Edward."

_He surely is starving._

Seth turned to see me, knowing that it didn't make me very happy to be apart from Bella. "You don't have to do it, Edward. I'm good."

"Don't worry, Seth. When you're back you'll have a nice human breakfast." I smiled at him, and Seth smiled back in the same way. He'd forgotten that Esme had offered him that breakfast when he'd arrived to the house. We owed him.

_God! Thanks._

Both of them disappeared through the staircase.

"Bella, love, I'll be right back. You'll be fine?"

"Of course. Rose will be with me all the time."

Rosalie got herself off the floor and sat next to Bella, in the place where I'd been, not wanting to get closer to the place Seth'd been sit.

_Agh, smells like wet dog._

I rolled my eyes, and walked to the kitchen.

I made a cheese omelet, and a few cinnamon rolls. It took me ten minutes to finish everything, it was food for five persons or so, but I knew what appetite this wolves had. I decided to make an omelet for Bella, too. Maybe it would be time to try if she could or couldn't eat human food. Carlisle reached me at the kitchen, he was bringing more blood for Bella.

"Just in case, she can't eat what you cooked, Edward."

I nodded. I was fervently hoping Bella could eat something _normal._

When I walked back into the room, Seth and Alice were by Bella's sides. Seth by the couch he'd been before leaving with Alice, and she was sitting on the floor.

_You know? Seth works like an aspiring as much as Jacob does._

Rosalie got up, and sat on the floor, her face laid over Bella's knees.

"Here you go, Seth."

_This is great! It looks delicious._

"Thank you, Edward."

"You're welcome. Enjoy it." Seth stood for a moment, his stomach growling.

_I'll be back, I'll see if Leah wants something._

Bella's nose wrinkled a little with the smell, but didn't cause her nauseas or something else. But apparently, she wasn't going to want to try some of the food I'd made for her.

"Here. Carlisle thinks you'd need more."

Bella turned to see me and smiled. "Thanks. I'm thirsty, actually."

At that moment Seth came back and sat back again by Bella's side.

"Seth, could you…?"

Knowing what Bella meant, Seth put one of his arms around her shoulders to give her some of warm. Bella took a sip of blood, and put the cup between her leg and mine. Seth started eating, and I heard how Jacob's mind was beginning to come back to reality, he was about to wake up.

"You know what?" Bella told Seth. "That doesn't smell as good as this." She told him while pointed at the cup of blood between our legs.

My teeth ground together. But Bella started laughing, and Seth followed suit. Jacob growled, and his eyes opened.

"About time. The chainsaw impersonation was getting a little tired." Rosalie whined, remembering all the snoring from Jacob through the night.

Jacob's eyes opened, and the first thing he did was to look over the room. He noticed the changes in Bella who was now sitting on the couch, without the IV. Rosalie and Alice on the floor. He noticed that Alice had found a new medicament for the headache. Seth. He turned to see him, when he saw my look lost toward the door where Jacob was.

"Hey, Jake's coming around!"

_What the hell?_

Jacob didn't understand what he was looking, what he had missed. He didn't even have any idea of what the time was, or day. "He came to find you," I told Jacob while he got to his feet. "And Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast."

_Oops…_ Seth saw his expression. "Yeah, Jake—I was just checking to see if you were okay 'cause you didn't ever phase back. Leah got worried. I told her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food and, dang-" Seth turned to see me, though I'd already seen what he was going to say, I heard. "-man, you can cook."

_You really can._

"Thank you."

Jacob was more aware of the position Bella and Seth were, his arm extended over Bella. He couldn't take his eyes off them. It was almost, possessive. I still decided to explain why he was that way; it didn't make me happy that he felt that way toward Bella.

"Bella got cold."

_Right. None of my business, anyway. She didn't belong to me._

That's right, I wanted to say. But I held back.

Seth turned to see Jacob when he heard what I said to him.

_Maybe I can eat with both my hand…_ he thought, and took his arm off Bella to eat with his hands.

Jacob came closer a few steps. "Leah running patrol?"

"Yeah," Seth answered as he chewed. "She's on it. No worries. She'll howl if there's anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours." Seth said with pride.

"Midnight? Wait a minute—what time is it now?"

"'Bout dawn." Seth turned to see toward the window, making sure it was.

"Crap. Sorry about that, Seth. Really. You shoulda kicked me awake."

"Naw, man, you needed some serious sleep. You haven't taken a break since when? Night before your last patrol for Sam? Like forty hours? Fifty? You're not a machine, Jake. 'Sides, you didn't miss anything at all."

_Nothing at all?_

Jacob wondered while looking at Bella and the complete change that was in her. She was almost normal, again. Bella saw Jacob looking at her face, and smiled at him. "How's the rib?"

"Taped up nice and tight. I don't even feel it."

I ground my teeth together so I wouldn't let a scream out, but from desperation. I hated when Bella wanted to take importance off from the situation, especially at those moments.

"What's for breakfast? O negative or AB positive?"

Bella stuck out her tongue to him when she heard him, knowing he was right. "Omelets." I saw from Jacob how her eyes moved to the cup between our legs and Jacob saw it.

"Go get some breakfast, Jake. There's a bunch in the kitchen. You've got to be empty."

Jacob examined the food Seth still had, and though his stomach growled, he ignored it.

"What's Leah having for breakfast?"

"Hey, I took food to her before I ate anything. She said she'd rather eat roadkill, but I bet she caves. These cinnamon rolls… " _are wonderful._

"I'll go hunt with her, then."

Seth sighed, and Jacob turned around to leave. But Carlisle stopped him.

"A moment, Jacob?"

"Yeah?" he answered him, his face showing more respect than he's showed if it wasn't Carlisle.

Carlisle neared Jacob, while Esme got out of the room. "Speaking of hunting. That's going to be an issue for my family. I understand that our previous truce is inoperative at the moment, so I wanted your advice. Will Sam be hunting for us outside of the perimeter you've created? We don't want to take a chance with hurting any of your family—or losing any of ours. If you were in our shoes, how would you proceed?"

Jacob was a little surprised. His words made me laugh internally. _What would I know about being in a bloodsucker's expensive shoes?_

As if all vampires wore expensive shoes, we wore them because of… Alice.

"It's a risk. Sam's calmed down some, but I'm pretty sure that in his head, the treaty is void. As long as he thinks the tribe, or any other human, is in real danger, he's not going to ask questions first, if you know what I mean. But, with all that, his priority is going to be La Push. There really aren't enough of them to keep a decent watch on the people while putting out hunting parties big enough to do much damage. I'd bet he's keeping it close to home."

_He's right._

"So I guess I'd say, go out together, just in case. And probably you should go in the day, 'cause we'd be expecting night. Traditional vampire stuff. You're fast—go over the mountains and hunt far enough away that there's no chance he'd send anyone that far from home."

"And leave Bella behind, unprotected?"

I snorted internally. Alone? Did he actually believe I'd go with them? That I would leave Bella alone?

_Not alone. I'm not going, and surely Edward either._ Rosalie thought.

Jacob snorted. "What are we, chopped liver?"

Carlisle smiled. "Jacob, you can't fight against your brothers." _I couldn't allow that._

"I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard, but if they were really coming to kill her—I would be able to stop them."

Carlisle shook his head. "No, I didn't mean that you would be… incapable. But that it would be very wrong. I can't have that on my conscience."

"It wouldn't be on yours, Doc. It would be on mine. And I can take it."

"No, Jacob. We will make sure that our actions don't make that a necessity." _I think it would be better if… _"We'll go three at a time. That's probably the best we can do."

"I don't know, Doc. Dividing down the middle isn't the best strategy."

My face showed in Carlisle's mind, and I didn't like at all what he was considering. "We've got some extra abilities that will even it up. If Edward is one of the three, he'll be able to give us a few miles' radius of safety."

The two of them turned to see me. And face said everything; I didn't have to speak aloud for them to know that I was categorically refusing.

_Sure, son. You won't be apart from Bella. I'm sorry._ "I'm sure there are other ways, too. Alice, I would imagine you could see which routes would be a mistake?"

_Relax, Edward. I'll go._ "The ones that disappear. Easy." Alice told him, nodding.

"Okay, then. That's settled. I'll just be on my way. Seth, I'll expect you back on at dusk, so get a nap in there somewhere, all right?"

"Sure, Jake. I'll phase back soon as I'm done. Unless..." Seth turned to see Bella, thinking about her temperature. "Do you need me?"

Before she could say anything, Jacob interrupted. "She's got blankets."

"I'm fine, Seth, thanks," Bella rushed to say when she heard Jacob.

At that moment, Esme came into the room. She stopped behind Carlisle, hesitating.

_Will he take it? I hope the smell doesn't bother him much…_

Esme took a step forward in a shy way; she didn't know how to tell him, or rather, how to offer Jacob the food.

"Jacob. I know it's… unappetizing to you, the idea of eating here, where it smells so unpleasant. But I would feel much better if you would take some food with you when you go. I know you can't go home, and that's because of us. Please—ease some of my remorse. Take something to eat." Esme held the tray with food out to him.

_I don't know how she did it, because she didn't look older than her mid-twenties, and she was bone pale, too, but something about her expression suddenly reminded me of my mom. Jeez._

"Uh, sure, sure. I guess. Maybe Leah's still hungry or something."

Jacob took the tray, and kept it away. _I'd go dump it under a tree or something. I didn't want her to feel bad._

Then he remembered I could read what he was thinking. _Don't you say anything to her! Let her think I ate it._

Of course I wouldn't tell her, I didn't want to hurt her feelings, either, and as Jacob thought, I owed him. I owed him more than a little silence for a good cause.

"Thank you, Jacob."

"Um, thank you."

I heard how Jacob felt uncomfortable with what had just happened, how to behave _rude_ or _crude_ with some members of the family, well, at least Carlisle and Esme, especially, made him feel bad, as if we were his friends.

"Will you come back later, Jake?" Bella asked.

"Uh, I don't know."

Bella smashed her lips; she knew well that Jacob would come back if she asked him to. "Please? I might get cold."

"Maybe." Jacob answered her, shivering after having inhaled through his nose.

_Oh, the clothes._ "Jacob? I left a basket of clothes on the porch. They're for Leah. They're freshly washed—I tried to touch them as little as possible." She frowned. "Do you mind taking them to her?"

"On it," Jacob got out, almost escaping before someone could force him to do something else through guilt.

Bella stared at the door…

Is it that she'd never want to let him go? She had everything she wanted and it wasn't enough.

I wasn't enough for her.

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** I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. And it takes me too long to upload because I translate it myself. Hope you understand.**

**Thanks for the few persons who has the time and willingness to write a review.**


	16. Chapter 15, COUNTDOWN

**Hello readers!**

**I'm finally back with the 15th chapter, sorry for taking me so long in uploading it, but it's a very long process translating the chapters from spanish into english, but I did it.**

**Again, sorry for the mistakes I make with the spelling. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.**

**Thanks to the ones that support this story, and the ones that understand why is not perfect. The next one is going to be ready the next week. So be patience... =D**

** And of course, I don't own TWILIGHT.

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**

CHAPTER 15. Countdown

Bella had already finished her third cup of blood since Jacob had walked out of the door. Seth was still by her side, it hasn't even been an hour. We'd been switching places in order to keep her temperature even. When she got hot, I would get by her side; and when she got cold, Seth would.

We'd smiled a little bit, every time Bella gave a sip to the cup of blood, Seth would shiver. Wondering how was it possible for Bella to be able to drink human blood, that wasn't exactly what made me laugh, to Bella and Seth it was, but the reactions Seth had and how he saw it as the most normal thing, considering that we were vampires. At certain moment he'd remembered when he's said the same thing to Jacob and Leah, both of them had become speechless out of surprise, laughing a bit about Seth having hit his head too much when he was baby…

"So, what's your favorite, Bella? A positive or A negative?" he joked around with Bella between chuckles.

"Mmm… tough one, Seth. I think both." Bella had answered him with a smile.

Sometimes it was hard to hear them joking about something so serious like that, but I held back myself, I didn't want to make Bella feel bad, not when she was having a laugh moment.

When jokes had been too much for me, I had been about to make them shut, but the sound of the phone ringing distracted me. Carlisle was coming down the stairs and he rushed to pick up. There was only one person that would call to our home. Charlie.

"Hello?"

_Carlisle? This is Charlie._

"Oh, sure. How are you, Charlie?"

"Charlie?" Bella turned to see me, her eyes begging.

I didn't believe it was a very good idea that Bella talked with his dad, not right now. But it was very hard for me to deny something to Bella, whatever it was.

_I was just calling to know how's Bella doing. __Better?_

"She's recovering, Charlie. Don't worry. We're taking care of her the best we can."

_Could I speak with her?_

Carlisle turned to look at me, waiting for an answer. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"What's not a good idea? Carlisle, I want to speak with my father. Please, Edward?"

How to deny her? I'd never been able to deny her anything, and to be honest, I would never be. I sighed, and nodded. "Fine. But Bella…"

"I know, I know. No giving him hopes that aren't coming true."

She stretched her hand, impatient to talk to Charlie after so long.

"Of course you could, Charlie. She's here."

_Thank you, Carlisle. Good bye._

"Good bye."

Carlisle gave Bella the phone, who took it with more enthusiasm than I would have imagined. She really wanted to talk with his father. "Charlie?"

"Bells? Is that you?"

Bella smiled. "Yes. Oh, dad, you don't know how I've missed you."

I thought that it was weird for Bella to express so freely her feelings. Usually, she didn't like talking about her feelings with anyone.

"How are you, Bells? Carlisle hasn't allowed me to come over and see you because he says you're too sick, is that true?"

Bella sighed. "It's true. But don't worry, I'm getting better." Then she turned towards me, knowing she's broken her promise. That was giving Charlie hope.

"I'm glad. Is Edward taking care of you as he should? I myself would see that he's in prison if he doesn't, Bells. It would be a crime not to take care of you."

Bella laughed again, loudly. His words had made her laugh as nothing had made her laugh for days, even a few moments ago with Seth, and then she took my hand absently. "Better than that, dad. He always had."

"I hope so. When can I see you?"

Bella stayed silent for a few seconds. Her eyes staring at our intertwined hands.

"I don't know, dad. I think Carlisle is still not very sure of my condition. They may take me to some especial hospital, until they know for sure that I'm fine." Her voice had turned sad at the end. Knowing that she may not be able to see him in a long time.

"Oh." Charlie was disappointed. "Well, I just hope that they take good care of you. Especially Edward, of course."

"They will."

"Well, Bells. I'm glad you're better, take care. Can I call you later?"

"Of course you can. Anytime, dad."

"Good. Bye, then."

"Bye."

My face was full of reproach. She wasn't going to tell him anything that gave him hope? And what had been that? "Bella..."

Bella shook her head rapidly. "No, Edward. Please, I don't want to argue about this now."

I sighed, exasperated. She knew perfectly how to control me. She had me in her hands, and she knew it.

"What?" Bella asked me in an innocent tone. She knew very well why I disapproved what she'd said to Charlie.

I just shook my head; I didn't want to argue either.

After a few minutes, Bella's temperature had risen too much, and Seth decided it was the right moment to go to sleep a moment, while Bella didn't need him for the moment.

_She doesn't need me, right?_

"Right, Seth. You can go to sleep, don't worry."

Bella turned to see me, and then Seth, understanding what Seth had asked me that she hadn't been able to hear.

Seth nodded, and walked to the door. _I'll be on the porch._

As soon as Seth walked out, Bella cuddled up between my arms again. Her face was against my chest, our hands intertwined, and her free hand over her belly.

And again… that noise.

"Do you listen something strange, Rosalie?"

_We're starting again. There's no sound but in your head, Edward._

I ignored her comment, and didn't wait for her to answer me aloud.

"Are you thirsty?"

Bella raised her look to my face, and a light red colored her cheeks. She nodded, and turned to see Rosalie.

"I'll be back."

Rosalie was back in less than five seconds, Bella had just cuddled up again between my arms, she took the glass, and then took a few sips of blood.

We were in silence for a while. Rosalie was watching TV, or pretending to watch it. Then I remembered…

"Bella?"

She turned to look at me, and her eyes were confused. "What is it, Edward?"

"What do you pretend with Charlie? Don't you think it's cruel to give him hope when you know maybe…?" my voice turned off at the end, I wasn't able to tell her a word, but I knew Bella understood me.

Bella lowered her eyes. "I'm not dying."

For as much as I wanted to be agreeing with her, I couldn't. The little information that my brothers and Carlisle had found so far, weren't very encouraging. Mothers always died in the process, the fetus came out of the belly on its own, ripping apart their way so they could come out. Mothers… didn't have much hope of surviving…

"You don't know that."

Her question left me cold. "Are you letting me die?"

It was beyond painful to consider the idea of letting her die, of course I wouldn't. But Carlisle had said it; there were certain things that not even the vampire venom could repair. I still wasn't going to give up, never; I had eternity in front of me as to get tired. I wouldn't.

"Of course not. You know." I caressed softly her cheeks. "But that doesn't completely depend on me, and you know that, too."

"I'm going to live. I'm sure."

"Okay, you're going to live. And what's going to happen with Charlie? You know you won't be able to see him…"

"I know, Edward. At least the first year. I don't know, I'll make something up. Being in a hospital receiving treatment, or something. We'll see."

"What's going to happen when he'll see you? You're not going to be the same one, remember? You're going to look like we do."

"I've got a plan."

So she had a plan. It couldn't be very good, it wasn't even good that Bella considered to give Charlie hope, to tell him she was getting better.

"Ah, yeah, and what's your plan?"

"Let him make his own conclusions. We don't have to tell him what we really are-" we are? Bella was beyond completely certain that she was going to live. "-so he won't be in danger. It will be like in the beginning. When I made my own theories…"

"That… is totally insane."

Bella sighed. "Not much. It worked once."

What did she mean? It hadn't worked with her, she had dug until finding the truth.

"What do you mean it worked once?"

Through her eyes passed a ray of understanding. "Right, you don't know."

"I don't know what?"

"You know wolves have prohibited telling someone outside of the pack… things. There was a time, when Jacob recently changed to wolf. He couldn't tell me what he was, and he couldn't talk to me, not even see me, he had it prohibited."

Bella stopped, waiting for me to say anything. Asking me if I understood what she was saying.

I nodded, and she started talking again. "Well. The day I met Jacob, the day when he told me that you were vampires, he started telling me stories or legends about the Quileute tribe. He told me that they were supposed to descend from wolves. Jacob remembered that he'd already told me his secret, and came to look for me, he asked me to try to remember that day, that I already knew what he was."

I could see, weakly, what Bella meant, where this was going.

"And you think Charlie…?"

"Will come to his own theories, like I did at the beginning. We can live with that. With whatever he thinks we are." Her hand caressed my cheek. "I think it's a good plan." Her voice was pleading.

Would I learn someday to deny something to this angel?

It always surprised me the answer, because I always thought that I would make the right thing, but when it came to Bella, I couldn't refuse. It was a wasted effort trying to give her a no.

But in those moments, I wasn't stressing her out, if that's what she wanted, she'd have it… I will have the time to deal with that later.

Again I sighed, exasperated. "You always get what you want, you know?"

Bella smiled at me. "I know."

Her temperature had lowered, she felt almost as cold as our temperature. I made her aside slowly, telling her with my eyes that she had to move. Bella sighed, and nodded. She laid on the couch, and I covered her with blankets.

She finished drinking the blood Rosalie had brought for her a few moments ago. Bella stayed staring at the cup, that little wrinkle between her eyes showing up. Her tips twitched, as if she was doubting of what to do, or to ask for more.

"Bella?"

She turned to see me, and smiled. "I'm still thirsty…"

"Don't worry, Bella. Your body has need. Now I'll get you more."

Your body, yeah right. What had need of blood was that monster in her inside not her body.

Bella was beginning to fall asleep… when I saw her tightening her eyes and her lips hardly, her hands over her stomach. I immediately moved to her side, and a whine escaped her lips.

"What's wrong? What is it, Bella?"

Her breathing was ragged, as if she were struggling to breathe.

"Carlisle," I called my father, and was by my side in a second.

_What is it, Edward?_

He then saw the expression in Bella's face, and understanding crossed his mind.

_Another rib?_

"Bella…?"

"I think…" Bella gasped. "he broke… another… rib, Carlisle."

Her eyes opened and a few tears escaped her, falling down her cheeks.

Rosalie was already by our side. The cup of blood forgotten on the kitchen.

"Bella, are you okay?"

"I am, Rose. It's just a rib, right?"

Both of them smiled. I hated when I saw comprehension on her eyes, as if this were the most normal situation in the world.

Rosalie took her in her arms, knowing what was coming.

"Let's go, Carlisle. We have to fix her rib."

I walked behind them; I could hear how her breathing was still hard.

When we got to Carlisle's office, Bella's face got green, her hand flew to her mouth, the three of us knew her expression…

Carlisle quickly took a bowl he had in his hand, and put it under her face. Bella vomited, it was something terrifying to see, mostly for her, to see all the fluid that came out of her mouth was red, blood, and all that blood was human, not even her own blood… that it was probably less painful than thinking that it was hers.

The taste must have been horrible; Carlisle passed her a glass of water. Bella washed her mouth and spat the liquid back into the same bowl. She cleaned her mouth with her hand, and a pink color appeared on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry. It'd been a while since the last time, huh?"

Only Rosalie laughed with her, Carlisle just smiled slightly, not wanting to be rude with Bella. I didn't have the energy to smile for her, even a little bit.

When Carlisle was done, Rosalie got Bella downstairs again in her arms. Carlisle stayed upstairs with Emmett, Jasper and Alice. Esme was in her room… she was working in something new, I could listen, the movement of the pencil over the sheet while she made different patterns, but she was humming a song so she wouldn't let her mind think about what she was doing.

Her temperature had gone up again. It worried me how wrong her immune system was working. But Bella laid over my chest to get the high temperature she had now down. She soon fell asleep for a long time, even when her breathing was still hard. If she kept this way, it would soon not let her breathe.

Hours passed, and when Bella started shaking, I moved kindly from her side, I laid her completely on the couch and covered her with blankets.

The sunset was getting closer and Seth was still completely asleep, so I didn't dare to wake him up, I could hear his dreams, and he was not yet close to reality. I let him sleep, I didn't think Jacob would get upset because the kid slept like he should for once.

Rosalie was switching channels in the TV faster than any human could appreciate; it was just a blurry image for them. Neither she was interested in seeing something at that moment; she just did it to distract herself a little.

I thought having heard Bella whispering something, but my eyes had never strayed from her face, and her lips hadn't opened at all. That buzz was again buzzing in my head, only that now it wasn't just that, it was like a babbling, nothing intelligible. That was weird, because Bella hadn't said anything since weeks ago in her dream, Rosalie… mmm… it might be the sound of the TV switching channels so fast the only a babbling of voice got to my ears. No, it wasn't that. Because I didn't listen the same sound in Rosalie's mind.

Nobody heard it, except me. That left only one explanation, but it was impossible.

I focused on what Bella and I had talked, about Charlie. I really didn't think that was a good idea. It would be dangerous for Charlie to know our secret, though Bella hadn't said anything about telling him, she was the one who most conscious about danger should be, knowing the Volturi, and our rules. She'd just said, letting Charlie make his own theories, after all, we hardly adhere to the canon vampire. Charlie would never imagine that that's what we were, and it was little likely that that was going to be his conclusion.

With what little I could listen from his mind, he'd never come up with the idea that we were something more than humans, simply strange, or different than the other ones. He wasn't a man that believed in legends or myths, even superstitions.

But, what would happen if Bella didn't make it?

For as much as it hurt me to consider the idea, I had to think, I had to be prepared.

Luckily, Bella stretched and whined lightly. Her eyes blinked, and opened. She had woken in the right moment, truth to be said I didn't want to think what I would do if Bella…

"Bella, love, how are you?"

She tried to inhale a few times before answering. "Better. It almost doesn't hurt."

I shook my head, a little bothered by her attitude. She almost couldn't breathe, she had three broken ribs, she was vomiting blood, and she wanted to tell that it almost didn't hurt her?

"Bella…"

She lowered her look, and narrowed her eyes.

"Rose."

Rosalie stood immediately, took the bowl and put it under her face.

Seth walked into the house in that moment, hesitating. "Come on in, Seth, it's okay."

He walked in with more confidence, and came closer to the couch.

"Hey, you don't need me? I think I fell asleep." Seth yawned.

_But I needed it. I hope Jacob won't get upset._

"Don't worry, Seth. You can leave if you want."

_Fine. See ya, Edward._

Alice came downstairs then, her face a little upset, headache again.

Bella raised her face; she'd cleaned her mouth up again. "Seth, could you tell Jacob to come over the house, please?"

"Of course, Bella. I'll tell him."

"Do you think he'll come?"

_Huh?_ "Of course he will, Bella. Don't doubt it. You know Jacob will come see how you're doing."

"Yes, Bella. He'll come. I know."

Her face showed doubt. "I don't know…"

"Bella, relax, okay? Jacob will come."

Bella smiled. "Okay. Thanks, Seth."

"Seth, wait." Alice called him before he even took a step towards the door.

_What's up?_ Seth thought, a little confused.

"Could you please tell him that I also want him to come? I'm tired of hanging out in the attic like the vampire bat in the belfry."

Seth laughed, and nodded.

"Sure. Well, see you."

Bella smiled, and waved goodbye.

Seth soon disappeared in the wood, and his thoughts got away.

Rosalie stayed by Bella's side for a moment, Alice came back to the attic, she really had come back to Jasper and Emmett, but in her mind she was thinking that she was going back to the attic, she was tired of not being able to be with Bella, and sometime, with me, thinking how hard it was for me to be in the same room with Rosalie and her selfish thoughts…

It was in moments like this one, when Rosalie only thought about the fetus, that I needed Alice, or someone to distract my mind. Alice and I always had been the closest, supporting each other. It was a little strange, and hard not having that little annoyance she sometimes was, at my side.

Time kept passing, I could see how Bella struggled every minute for her eyes to stay open, trying to blink the less possible so she wouldn't fall asleep.

"Bella, you can sleep, you know?"

Bella shook her head a bit. "I know. I'm just waiting for Jacob to come."

I nodded. I hadn't realized that her temperature had changed again, drops of sweat were falling down her face. I moved closer to her, and put behind her head, letting her resting over my chest.

"You're hot, Bella."

"Yes, I guess I do it on purpose, don't I? This is how I like to be…" her arms tightened around my arms over her chest, I was careful not to touch her stomach. I didn't want to fell that thing inside of her.

"Well, you don't have to do it on purpose."

Bella smiled, she turned her face a little towards me, and in her eyes I knew what she was asking me. I gave her a quick kiss on her lips, and when I pulled myself away, her face was stretching again toward me, as if she hadn't had enough.

When I was too out of her reach, her lips made an adorable pout. But I resisted the want of touching them again. It wasn't the best moment.

We were like that for a long moment, not even Rosalie bothered in fighting with me for the dangerous position Bella was in by my side. I had repeated her many times, that it wasn't possible in those moments, to do nothing against that thing without hurting my Bella, and that I would never allow.

I listened to Alice pacing around and around the third floor, she'd asked Jasper and Emmett to go to the last floor with her so they could be of company, the most far she were from Bella, the more her headache ceased a bit.

Carlisle was making some research in his and Esme's room. I could listen to Esme with her patterns yet. The surprise was more than anything for Bella, she didn't want me to comment something to her, but I didn't think that was a proper conversation in this moments, so she didn't have anything to worry about, much less when I was conscious that the surprise was for Bella. She was finishing the last patterns for the house they'd bought since they knew Bella and I were getting married, Esme and everyone else had started the rebuilding and redecoration while we were in Isle Esme. The patterns she was making, were of the room for the… baby. It was something she'd had in mind, and they hadn't had time to finish, with the going danger of Sam's pack. So she was just dedicating to designing the room.

It didn't have much point, because if Bella died, I wasn't staying in this world without her, so that thing wouldn't have to have a room in a house that they'd gotten us.

I listened to Bella sighed, her eyes were closing. I ran my hand over her forehead to feel her temperature, she was cold.

"Bella you can sleep, if you want." I told her, while I moved from her side, so she could get her body temperature back. I put some blankets over her.

"No, I don't want to sleep. Not yet." She sighed again.

I knew she was waiting for Jacob to come, Seth and I had assured her that he would come, but it was getting late, and there was no sign of Jacob.

Bella took another sip of blood, and Rosalie turned to check her.

She had been drinking more blood in these last hours, than since the moment in which we'd proved the theory. She was using up the blood they had stored, and Carlisle urgently needed Jacob to come, too, so he would tell him if it was safe for them to go hunting and get what we needed.

The cup got empty after a few sips.

Bella turned to see Rosalie.

"Rose, could you take me to the…?"

"Sure." Rosalie stood up, and moved to Bella's side.

_Move, Edward._

I moved and let her take her in her arms. Bella looked at me, and I thought I saw a bit of embarrassment in her eyes, she'd drunk too much liquid in the last minutes, and she was only human. Besides, she didn't like the idea of companion.

Esme listened to Rosalie getting into the bathroom with Bella, and came immediately downstairs to sit by my side.

I stayed sat on the couch, and Esme sat by my side. Then we heard Bella vomiting in an almost violent way, I could see everything from Rosalie, how the red liquid came out of her mouth, the pain that was in Bella, I almost sprinted to her side, but Esme, seeing the pain on my own face, tried to calm me.

"Edward, son. It's normal that pregnant women vomit."

I hated they told pregnant women, Bella wasn't pregnant in the normal way. It was a monster growing in her inside.

"Please, Esme!"

She put one of her arms over my shoulders, trying to support me. It was too late for that.

"Everything will be fine. Bella knows it, and you should know it too. She needs you, Edward."

I put my hands on my face, I felt again trapped into that black hole, and I didn't want to have witnesses of my suffering.

Minutes passed, and when Bella finally recovered from the nauseas, I heard Jacob coming closer to the house in his wolf form. When he got to the trees that were surrounding the house, he looked for the place where he'd decided to leave the clothing we'd given him, he changed and walked to the house.

Rosalie and Bella still didn't come back, and the pain was plain in my face, so I didn't raise my eyes when I heard that Jacob planned to come in without knocking.

He'd thought about doing it that way, as if he were the owner of the place to upset Rosalie, but when he walked in he realized that it'd been a wasted effort, because neither Rosalie or Bella were in sight. The fright it caused him when he didn't see them anywhere, caused his heart to squeeze against his ribs in an uncomfortable way, he hadn't even realized that Esme and I were on the couch. If I didn't tell him anything, he was going to suffer a heart attack.

"She's all right. Or, the same, I should say." I murmured.

_Agh, what is that stinky dog coming for?_

His eyes followed the sound of my voice, and he finally saw us sitting on the couch. I

hadn't even raised my eyes to speak to him.

Alice listened to Jacob coming in, and became glad. She'd finally come downstairs with us.

_He's here! Good, I'm sick of being here._

"Jazz, I'll leave you. I'm coming with everyone else."

"Sure, Alice."

Esme said hi to Jacob when she saw him. "Hello, Jacob. I'm so glad you came back."

Alice came downstairs to the room then. "Me, too."

_It was about time._

"Uh, hey." It felt weird to try to be polite.

"Where's Bella?"

I didn't have the energy to answer him. I didn't want to do anything, I didn't even feel motivation to be polite or like someone.

Alice answered him. "Bathroom. Mostly fluid diet, you know. Plus, the whole pregnancy thing does that to you, I hear."

"Ah."

Alice'd heard Esme trying to calm me, and that's what I'd said to Jacob.

Jacob stayed stood in the same spot, awkward. Without knowing what t do, if Bella wasn't there, that's what he'd come for, to see Bella not none of us.

"Oh, wonderful." Rosalie growled, when coming out of the hall, so Jacob would listen to her. Jacob stuck his head towards the place where he'd listened to Rosalie, and saw her coming out with Bella in her arms. A gesture of contempt on her face just for Jacob.

"I knew I smelled something nasty."

And like before, when Bella raised her eyes and saw Jacob's waiting face, her face lightened as if seeing him were everything she needed to survive.

_It was so unfair._

I was in agreement with Jacob, it was so unfair as much for him as for me to see how Bella became ecstatic in such a way with just seeing him.

"Jacob. You came." Bella told him.

"Hi, Bells."

I'd seen how much pain had it caused Bella every movement, for as much careful we were when touching her, when raising her, Bella was suffering. A few tears had fallen down her eyes when she'd been inside of the bathroom, she'd let them out, knowing I wasn't there to see her, what she didn't remember was that I could see through Rosalie.

Esme and I rose from the couch when Rosalie came over; put Bella delicately over the couch. Still, her face got pale white and her lips tightened, trying badly to not whine.

The pain was obvious on her face.

I didn't want to upset her more, so to check her temperature without her realizing it, I just passed my hand over her forehead pretending I was gently pulling her hair back, I made the same thing with her neck. Everyone but Bella realized what I was doing, even Jacob.

Her skin was cold. "Are you cold?"

"I'm fine."

"Bella, you know what Carlisle told you. Don't downplay anything. It doesn't help us take care of either of you." Rosalie said.

"Okay, I'm a little cold. Edward, can you hand me that blanket?"

Jacob rolled his eyes, and told her before I could give her the blanket. "Isn't that sort of the point of me being here?"

"You just walked in. After running all day, I'd bet. Put your feet up for a minute. I'll probably warm up again in no time."

She always put everyone else before herself, always so selfless. It was one of her virtues, one of the first ones I'd learned about her when knowing her. She was still the same one.

Jacob ignored her, and walked to her. When he was by her side, he sat on the floor, fearing only moving her, he saw her so brittle, that he only dared to put one of his arms besides Bella, and took her hand with one of his, while he put his other hand over her face.

_Brittle._ That was what Bella had always represented to me, and in those moments she was even more, seeing and listening to that thing breaking her bones without being able to help it.

I listened to that sound again, then. It was so odd, it didn't sound like a buzzing now, but I was sure that it was the same one I'd been hearing since days ago. I couldn't put a name on it, I didn't even know where it came from.

"Thanks, Jake." Bella said, and shuddered.

"Yeah."

I went and sat on the couch's arm, my eyes always in Bella's face. I was having a hard time if my eyes strayed from her face. I watched her every expression that crossed her eyes, looking for nothing more than the pain that she felt so often.

Then Jacob's stomach growled, he must be really hungry. And although he'd wished anyone would've heard, it was impossible with our ears.

_Oh, time to eat._ Alice thought.

"Rosalie, why don't you get Jacob something from the kitchen?"

Alice asked her, Jacob couldn't see her because she was sitting behind the couch. But Rosalie, being in front of us, could her expression being seen.

_What! Am I his maid or what?_

"Thanks, anyway, Alice, but I don't think I'd want to eat something Blondie's spit in. I'd bet my system wouldn't take too kindly to venom."

_Mmm…_ Rosalie thought. _Maybe, well no._

Alice seeing what Rosalie probably would do, intervened. "Rosalie would never embarrass Esme by displaying such a lack of hospitality."

"Of course not." Rosalie told him in a kind tone. And walked out of the room.

Jacob distrusted her tone immediately. But I had seen what Rosalie was planning to do. The two of them were so immature.

I sighed.

"You'd tell if she poisoned it, right?" Jacob asked.

"Yes." I told him, hoping he'd heard the promise behind my word. He did.

And he believed me. Good.

Then we started to listen to the sound of metal from the kitchen that Rosalie was doing when bending it over.

_I hope he enjoys his plate, that dog._

She was giving it a dog dish shape to the bowl and was planning to write the word _FIDO_. I sighed again, but I couldn't help but smile a little. It was a bit funny how these two got on.

Before Jacob or someone else could think more about what Rosalie was doing, she came into the room with bowl in her hand. She put it in front of Jacob, a smile on her face.

"Enjoy, mongrel."

Rosalie told him before going back to sit in front of the TV. He waited a moment in fro of us. Jacob appreciated the good craftsmanship Rosalie'd showed having when changing the shape of the bowl and the good handwriting she had.

Esme shook her head. _Couldn't she stop fighting with Jacob?_

Bella didn't say anything, I don't think she didn't even see what Rosalie made.

"Thanks, Blondie." Jacob told her, meaning the food she'd brought to him.

Rosalie snorted. _Agh…_

"Hey, do you know what you call a blond with a brain? A Golden Retriever."

"I've heard that one, too."

He's not even funny! Why does Bella want him here?

"I'll keep trying." Jacob promised.

Rosalie made a face, annoyed for having to endure Jacob, and rolled her eyes, then she went to sit in one of the chair that were in front of the TV. Jacob started eating.

The silence got over the room for a few minutes.

Jacob ate everything, and according to what I listened it was good, even when it had the vampire smell.

The buzzing, or rather noise, had changed in a radical way, I could almost hear words, it was like a babbling, it was the strangest thing. Even weirder than listen to it, it was that it didn't go away, something was less heard, and other times it was louder than usual. I was wondering what could it be.

Alice saw the expression I had, a bit of frustration for not knowing what it was, and doubt.

_Edward, are you okay?_

I didn't turn to see her, I just nodded with my eyes. Alice would know perfectly that the movement was an affirmation and an answer for her question.

_All right._ She told me a little hesitant with herself.

I could see my face in her mind, and it didn't look good. But it wasn't anything out of order. It had me intrigued that noise. I couldn't listen to it in anybody else's mind.

I was still wondering about that noise, it was becoming a little obsession in the depth of my mind, when I heard Bella running her fingers through Jacob's hair, then she gave him a pat behind his neck.

"Time for a haircut, huh?"

"You're getting a little shaggy. Maybe-"

Jacob interrupted her. "Let me guess, someone around here used to cut hair in a salon in Paris?"

Bella smiled. "Probably."

_Of course not, Bella._ Alice smiled internally.

"No, thanks. I'm good for a few more weeks." Jacob said to her, before she could offer him a real hair cut.

I would've rather Jacob didn't get that conversation out, but there was no way to ask him.

"So… um… what's the, er, date? You know, the due date for the little monster."

Bella smack him behind his head. Jacob didn't even feel it, it was as if a feather had touched him.

"I'm serious. I want to know how long I'm gonna have to be here."

_How long you're gonna be here._ Jacob thought in his head.

The little wrinkle that showed between her eyes when she was concentrate appeared, thinking in her answer, surely. Jacob turned to see her, then.

"I don't know. Not exactly. Obviously, we're not going with the nine-month model here, and we can't get an ultrasound, so Carlisle is guesstimating from how big I am. Normal people are supposed to be about forty centimeters here-" Bella showed him with her hand the place on her stomach. "-when the baby is fully grown. One centimeter for every week. I was thirty this morning, and I've been gaining about two centimeters a day, sometimes more..."

_How many days did that give her, if she was counting to forty? __Four?_

All the emotions mixed in that moment when listening to Bella speak, all the thoughts, Rosalie and her unbelievable selfishness and her anxious emotion for those days to pass by already and she could have that monster finally in her arms, fulfill her wish of a whole life, of her entire existence, being a mother, thought it was my and Bella's child, the only thing she cared about was having it for her and no one else; Alice and her fully worry, her almost confidence that Bella wasn't going to survive, for as much as she wished she were able too think like Bella, she couldn't; and then Jacob, it was one of my worst nightmares, to listen to what he thought, so openly, all the truth, to listen to what would happen, I could hear in him what I already knew and everyone else was trying to hide from me to not make me feel worse, but he didn't worry about me, he didn't have to.

Again, I felt like falling deeper into that big black hole where I was in, it was as if there was no exit, as if it were my last home.

"You okay?" Bella asked Jacob.

He just nodded, he wasn't sure how his voice would sound. I turned my face towards the glass window, I didn't want Bella to see my expression, nor anyone else, being behind my back.

Of course everyone else didn't look to see my face, they knew what I was thinking and feeling without needing to see it, but Jacob turned to the glass windows and saw my expression.

_He was the burning man again._ Jacob thought.

What else did I have left in life to be?

I wanted to shut forever this gift I had had the curse to bring into this life, if it could be called life to this limitless existence, it was worse to have to listen my family trying to cheer me up, trying to calm the pain I felt and that as for much as they tried to try, they couldn't calm, much less erase from my being.

There was only one thing that could do it, and I couldn't see it happening, that Bella were going to save herself and were going to spend the rest of eternity like we once wished, with me.

Why was she giving herself to death? Why did she have to love that monster that was killing her?

But I wasn't much different to it, after all I was going to take Bella's soul away when I turned her into a vampire; at least, if my angel died, I was almost sure that she'd go straight to heaven, to finally rest after a tormented human life.

Yes, I was worse.

Still, I couldn't see the way to stop hating that monster in her inside. To think that I only had four days to see her chocolate brown eyes looking into my eyes, letting me get into the depths of her soul, see her smile when seeing me, see her blushing when I touched her, listen to her laugh, listen to her voice calling my name…

It was pure agony what was in my inside. What else could heartless, soulless monster like me feel?

Jacob started crying without realizing, tears rolling down his cheeks. How I wished I could cry just like him, to be able to get out of my system some of the misery and pain that drowned me.

Bella touched the place where the tears had left its wetness.

"It's going to be okay." Bella said. To Jacob it simply was pointless words.

"Right."

"I didn't think you would come. Seth said you would, and so did Edward, but I didn't believe them."

"Why not?"

"You're not happy here, but you came anyway."

"You wanted me here."

Something I didn't fully understand.

"I know. But you didn't have to come, because it's not fair for me to want you here. I would have understood."

They became silent for a while, and I could take the painful expression off my face, I turned to the TV when I was sure Bella wouldn't notice anything. Jacob did.

"Thank you for coming." Bella said to Jacob.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

It was a very good question, and not only Jacob was interested in knowing the answer.

Still, I tried to pretend I wasn't listening to them, my eyes didn't move from the TV.

Thought Jacob knew I could listen what he was about to ask to Bella.

"Why do you want me here? Seth could keep you warm, and he's probably easier to be around, happy little punk. But when I walk in the door, you smile like I'm your favorite person in the world."

"You're one of them."

That I'd known since forever, it wasn't simply that Bella loved him, but she'd always considered him as part of her family, and she was happy when she saw him, so it didn't surprise me her answer.

"That sucks, you know."

"Yeah." Bella sighed. "Sorry."

I turned my face again towards the glass windows, looking at nothing. I was just listening to the sound surrounding me, and again, that babbling that came from somewhere I couldn't recognize. It was so strange…

"Why, though? You didn't answer that."

"It feels… complete when you're here, Jacob. Like all my family is together. I mean, I guess that's what it's like-I've never had a big family before now. It's nice." Bella smiled. "But it's just not whole unless you're here."

"I'll never be part of your family, Bella."

I could have been. I would have been good there. But that was just a distant future that died long before it had a chance to live.

Jacob was right, and wrong. His family had always been a part of Bella's family, even before they both had been born, their parents had been friends, and considered each other family. But Jacob didn't see it that way, he didn't want to see it that way.

"You've always been a part of my family." Bella disagreed.

Jacob gritted his teeth. "That's a crap answer."

"What's a good one?"

"How about, 'Jacob, I get a kick out of your pain'?"

Bella shudder when she heard him. It wasn't fair for Jacob to think that way. Bella suffered more than he imagined knowing that Jacob was suffering because of her.

"You'd like that better?"

"It's easier, at least. I could wrap my head around it. I could deal with it."

"We got off track, Jake. Out of balance. You're supposed to be part of my life—I can feel that, and so can you." Bella became silent for a second, and when she listened that Jacob wasn't answering anything, she went ahead. "But not like this. We did something wrong. No. I did. I did something wrong, and we got off track..."

Her voice turned off, falling asleep, her forehead relaxed until it became soft, and a light snore came out of her lips.

"She's exhausted. It's been a long day. A hard day. I think she would have gone to sleep earlier, but she was waiting for you."

Without turning to see me, Jacob said. "Seth said it broke another of her ribs."

While he was here.

"Yes. It's making it hard for her to breathe."

"Great."

Her skin was still cold, I could see the color in her arms, but her temperature was changing so much in these moments… "Let me know when she gets how again."

"Yeah." Jacob said.

Jacob noticed how Bella's arm hair he couldn't reach and tried to keep it warm was still raised. And before he could ask for a blanket aloud, I took it from the couch's arm and put it over Bella.

_Occasionally, the mind-reading thing saved time. __For example, maybe I wouldn't have to make a big production out of the accusation about what was going on with Charlie. That mess. Edward would just hear exactly how furious—_

I could listen how furious he was, besides he was showing it to me so I would explain what was happening with this issue.

"Yes, it's not a good idea." It wasn't, I was conscious about it.

"Then why?" Why was Bella telling her father she was on the mend when it would only make him more miserable?

"She can't bear his anxiety."

It wasn't a great excuse, I hadn't even thought that way when Bella had told me, but it was the main reason.

"So it's better-"

"No. It's not better. But I'm not going to force her to do anything that makes her unhappy now. Whatever happens, this makes her feel better. I'll deal with the rest afterward."

I wasn't in the mood of listening to his complaints, after all, it wasn't his business. I was her husband, it was me who was going to deal with whatever came after, if Bella… died. It was me who was by her side trying to make her feel better, it was me who she would come to relieve her anxiety.

_Even dying. That wasn't her. If I knew Bella, she had to have some other plan._

"She's very sure she's going to live." I said when I heard him.

That was her plan, live.

"But not human."

"No, not human. But she hopes to see Charlie again, anyway."

_Oh, this just got better and better._

".Afterwads." his eyes bugging out of their place. "See Charlie when she's all sparkly white with the bright red eyes. I'm not a bloodsucker, so maybe I'm missing something, but Charlie seems like kind of a strange choice for her first meal."

I sighed. It was illogical what he said. Of course that wouldn't happen. "She knows she won't be able to be near him for at least a year. She thinks she can stall. Tell Charlie she has to go to a special hospital on the other side of the world. Keep in contact through phone calls..."

"That's insane."

_Why does it matter to him? __It's not his problem._ Rosalie was upset of listening to Jacob talk like this.

In that I couldn't be disagreeing. "Yes."

"Charlie's not stupid. Even if she doesn't kill him, he's going to notice a difference."

"She's sort of banking on that." I told him.

Jacob kept staring at me, waiting for me to keep talking.

_You don't have to explain anything to him, Edward._ Rosalie this time.

"She wouldn't be aging, of course, so that would set a time limit, even if Charlie accepted whatever excuse she comes up with for the changes." I smiled a bit, imagining what Charlie would think, and Bella'd made up. "Do you remember when you tried to tell her about your transformation? How you made her guess?"

"She told you about that?" Jacob answered me, a bit upset.

"Yes. She was explaining her… idea. You see, she's not allowed to tell Charlie the truth—it would be very dangerous for him. But he's a smart, practical man. She thinks he'll come up with his own explanation. She assumes he'll get it wrong." I snorted. In that part she was right. "After all, we hardly adhere to vampire canon. He'll make some wrong assumption about us, like she did in the beginning, and we'll go along with it. She thinks she'll be able to see him… from time to time."

"Insane." Jacob said again.

"Yes."

What else could I say? That was exactly what it was her plan, but I wasn't willing to argue with Bella about it, I knew I would end up doing what she asked me.

His next words sent me straight into the abysm, falling down into that darkness. I didn't understand how could it affect me this much, if since I'd passed to this existence like vampire, like a monster of horror stories, my life had been dark by necessity, but this was different, it was more than just darkness where I look to, it was pain, pure agony.

Was it weakness? Yes, it was. It had always been my weakness giving Bella what she asked me, no matter how crazy or dangerous it was what she wanted, I always had to give it to her.

_Placating her, so that she could be happy for a little while longer. __Like four more days._

"I'll deal with whatever it comes." I told him while I bent my face and put it away from his look, that not even in the reflection of the glass could be seen by him. "I won't cause her pain."

"Four days?"

"Approximately." I answered without raising my eyes.

"Then what?"

"What do you mean, exactly?"

Jacob remembered what Bella had told him about the fetus. That it was wrapped strongly in something strong, something like vampire skin.

_So how did that work? How did it get out?_

"From what little research we've been able to do, it would appear the creatures use their own teeth to escape the womb."

Jacob stopped a moment before speaking. "Research?"

"That's why you haven't seen Jasper and Emmett around. That's what Carlisle is doing now. Trying to decipher ancient stories and myths, as much as we can with what we have to work with here, looking for anything that might help us predict the creature's behavior."

_Stories? If there were myths, then…_

"Then is this thing not the first of its kind? Maybe. It's all very sketchy. The myths could easily be the products of fear and imagination. Though . . ." I stopped for a second, hesitating. "your myths are true, are they not? Perhaps these are, too. They do seem to be localized, linked..."

"How did you find…?"

"There was a woman we encountered in South America. She'd been raised in the traditions of her people. She'd heard warnings about such creatures, old stories that had been passed down."

"What were the warnings?"

Wrong question.

"That the creature must be killed immediately. Before it could gain too much strength."

_Just like Sam thought. Was he right?_

"Of course, their legends say the same of us. That we must be destroyed. That we are soulless murderers."

_Two for two._

I chuckled for a second. He was right. We were fooling ourselves by thinking we were different than those monsters in their legends.

"What did the stories say about the… mothers?"

Wrong question again. I wasn't answering to that. I didn't even want to imagine it, but the images came to my mind without permission.

_Relax, Edward._ Alice told me.

_Agh, someone's got to tell him._ Rosalie thought.

"Of course there were no survivors," I wanted to tell her to not speak, I knew perfectly what words would she use, and that would take me to the edge of my patience. I wasn't controlling this time. "Giving birth in the middle of a disease-infested swamp with a medicine man smearing sloth spit across your face to drive out the evil spirits was never the safest method. Even the normal births went badly half the time. None of them had what this baby has—caregivers with an idea of what the baby needs, who try to meet those needs. A doctor with a totally unique knowledge of vampire nature. A plan in place to deliver the baby as safely as possible. Venom that will repair anything that goes wrong. The baby will be fine. And those other mothers would probably have survived if they'd had that—if they even existed in the first place. Something I am not convinced of."

_The baby, the baby. Like that was all that mattered. Bella's life was a minor detail to her—easy to blow off._

From Jacob's mind, I saw how my face got blank, _as snow._

_At least the baby will live, most surely. Huh._

That made me lose my mind, and the little patience I had left toward her. My hand made claws, while Rosalie, gave me her back in the chair.

I inclined forward, getting ready, my position crouched.

_Allow me._ Jacob told me, I raised an eyebrow, without seeing what he planned confused me.

_What's he going to do?_ Alice wondered, a little emotion on her face, she also thought that Rosalie deserved a punishment.

Then, silently, I saw Jacob raised the bowl in which Rosalie had brought him the food, and threw it toward the back part of Rosalie's head, the hit was so hard that the bowl bounced off and flew off across the room until it hit against one of the posts of the stairs and fell to the ground. All the caused sound only made Bella to twitch but didn't wake.

_What did he do? Damn stinky dog._

"Dumb blonde." Jacob said, proud of himself.

Rosalie turned her head toward Jacob slowly, her eyes brightening with hatred.

"You. Got. Food. In. My. Hair."

_Ha. She deserved it. It's good to have Jacob here…_

Listening to Rosalie, made Jacob break into laughter. He got away from Bella so his trembles wouldn't shake her. Tears started falling down his face. Alice joined him, she couldn't hold her laughter.

Upstairs, everyone had listened to the noise. No one had come, not even Emmett, they'd listened to the reason Jacob's done it, and slightly, understood his reason.

_Damn! Bella woke. I'll get back, Jacob Black. I will._

Just when Jacob wondered why Rosalie hadn't attacked him, he noticed that Bella had woken up.

"What's so funny?"

"I got food in her hair," Jacob told her, laughing.

"I'm not going to forget this, dog," Rosalie told him hissing.

"S'not so hard to erase a blonde's memory. Just blow in her ear."

"Get some new jokes."

"C'mon, Jake. Leave Rose alo—" Bella didn't finish speaking. She inhaled a big swallow of air, and her face contorted with pain. I hurried to her side immediately, ripping the blanket off her, her back was twisting, too. That thing was hurting her.

Was it never going to stop?

Carlisle came into the room them. _It seems it didn't hurt her, Edward._

"He's just," she said gasping. "stretching."

Her lips tightened, her teeth gritting trying to not open her mouth and let a scream of pain out of her mouth that I knew she was feeling.

I put both of my hands over her face. "Carlisle?"

I had listened to it, but I wanted to be sure. Bella would never tell if it had hurt her seriously.

"Right here."

"Okay. Think it's over. Poor kid doesn't have enough room, that's all. He's getting so big."

Her words and the tone Bella used, made Jacob wish he could throw something at her, too. Although that, of course, I wouldn't allow it.

"You know, he reminds of you, Jake." Bella said, gasping.

"Do not compare me to that thing."

"I just meant your growth spurt. You shot right up. I could watch you getting taller by the minute. He's like that, too. Growing so fast."

_Mmm, interesting._ Carlisle mused.

Bella sighed more easily, and let herself fall back into the couch.

"Hmm." Carlisle murmured, while his eyes were on Jacob, thinking about the similarities Bella'd just mentioned.

Jacob turned to see him. "What?"

_It's two similarities so far. It will possible that…_

My head leaned to one side, listening to what Carlisle was considering, the probabilities that it was that way.

"You know that I was wondering about the fetus's genetic makeup, Jacob. About his chromosomes."

"What of it?"

"Well, taking your similarities into consideration—"

"Similarities?" I knew Jacob wouldn't like the comparison.

"The accelerated growth, and the fact that Alice cannot see either of you."

_I'd forgotten about that other one._

"Well, I wonder if that means that we have an answer. If the similarities are gene-deep."

"Twenty-four pairs."

It was something very likely. If that thing was half human, and half vampire, it should be in the middle just like Jacob.

"You don't know that."

"No. But it's interesting to speculate," Carlisle told him, excited about having something to work with finally.

"Yeah. Just fascinating."

Carlisle, Alice and I started talking about the possibilities that were that the fetus had twenty fours pairs of chromosomes. That'd help, Carlisle seemed to think. The more we knew about the fetus the best, but it was nothing certain. While it helped Bella, I was willing to talk about anything, to learn more about that thing.

Two things happened at the same time, Bella fell asleep again, and her soft snore started sounding in the room, while at the same time, another sound, smaller and barely audible, very similar to what Bella was making started sounding in my mind. I considered the options, and it was something almost as unbelievable as impossible.

Could I be listening to the fetus' thoughts?

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	17. Chapter 16, DISCONCERTING

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CHAPTER 16. Disconcerting

Part of my mind had been on the conversation that I was having with Carlisle and Alice. It was so strange what was happening, that for the first time, I considered what Rosalie had been repeating to me so many times since I had started listening to that sound, that babbling.

I had considered the fetus like a monster, like a mindless and reasonless monster, maybe, just like Sam and his pack had considered it, something we weren't going to have control over. But, what if we were wrong, what if that thing did have intelligence? I couldn't be completely sure about what I believed, about anything, I wasn't even sure that they were that thing's thoughts I could hear.

It didn't matter.

Still, I couldn't vanish from my head that issue. It turned around and around in my head while I saw Bella, lying on the couch, Jacob was falling asleep by her side.

What if it wasn't the monster that I believed it was?

After all it was just a baby, it wasn't a mature and thinking being that could be conscious of the hurt it caused to someone who loved it so much, that took care of it so much, and that was willing to die for it. No, sentimentalism was winning over me, to think that Bella might be right. I couldn't allow it, that thing was killing the person that I loved most in the world.

But, what if the hatred that I felt toward it was unjustified? Just like once I had felt toward Bella when I met her.

They were very different situations, Bella was killing me, and not really. While that thing was ending with her life, with everything. It was all so confusing, I didn't know what to think, I didn't know what to believe before all.

Besides, what difference would it make, if in fact, I could listen what the fetus thought? None.

I had said a word to anyone about what my mind was battling to believe, it didn't make any sense to involve everyone else. So I didn't say anything, not even to Alice.

Much less to Rosalie or Bella. I could imagine what would happen…

Jacob fell asleep at certain moment of the night, I was watching Bella when Carlisle retired from the room after a few hours talking about the possibility that the fetus had twenty fours pairs of chromosomes, and how good would it make knowing that. Alice stayed by my side, and Jacob's.

_It's very interesting. It'd be something almost obvious, wouldn't it?_

"Alice, I don't want to talk about that anymore."

_All right. Do you think Bella's warm now? Look at her cheeks._

And as she'd said, her cheeks were blushed. I lightly touched her forehead, making the slightest movement as to not wake her up, and her skin was boiling.

Then I woke Jacob up, if I didn't Bella would wake because of the hot.

"Jacob? I think Bella needs to cool down."

He had blinked a few times before yawning, and getting up. He was still tired. We weren't anywhere near dawn.

"Huh? Oh, right."

When he was a few steps from the couch, I sat in his place to lower Bella's temperature.

Jacob considered leaving to run the perimeter for once and all to see if it was good for my family to go hunting without danger of Sam or someone else from the pack attacking them.

"Thank you. If the route is clear they'll go today." I told Jacob.

"I'll let you know."

After he was gone, Alice made a face toward the door while watching Jacob leaving, then she turned to see me and apologized in her mind.

_Sorry, I think my company lasted till here. See you, Edward._

I nodded, and Alice disappeared upstairs.

_How's she doing?_ Rosalie asked me, I could almost heard, 'How's the baby?'

I turned to see her, when she felt my eyes on her, she turned to see me, too. "Her temperature is going down. She's fine."

Rosalie nodded, and returned her eyes to the TV again, and I returned my eyes to Bella.

She kept sleeping soundly, a light snore coming out of her half-opened lips. Her face was still blushed. She looked so beautiful. It was almost normal having her that way in my arms, but then my eyes saw that bump on her stomach, and I imagined the monster that she was carrying inside of her, beating her, hurting her, and the _normality_ disappeared.

After a few minutes, her eyes slowly opened. It was still too early for Bella to be awake, her eyes could barely stay opened, then I heard that noise again.

I ignored it. "Bella?"

She put her eyes on my face when listening to me, and smiled. "Sorry." Why was she apologizing? "I think thirsty woke me up."

Rosalie turned. "Do you want me to bring you something to drink?"

Bella nodded. "Please."

In a second, Rosalie was out of the room and in the kitchen.

"More, Bella?" I asked her. I still didn't get used to seeing her asking for and drinking blood so usually, as if it were water what they brought her and had to drink.

She nodded again. "I'm thirsty." She told me, while shrugging very slowly.

We stayed in silent, just looking into each other's eyes. Sometimes we enjoyed more the silence, than a conversation. There weren't many things that we wanted to do, no many, just a few ones, but that had been the problem in the first place, what had us here… so I stopped thinking about that. I should have it prohibited.

Rosalie came back to the room, and gave the cup to Bella.

Bella started drinking sips absently, her eyes still in mine. Did she really enjoy the taste of blood? Or was it just a white lie to not make me feel bad? It was in moments like these that I wished I were able to see though it were for only a little moment inside of her mind, the pain, and the irrational love she felt for that monster… how was I going to stand it?

The sound got louder for a moment, and then it became completely silent. Bella closed her eyes without warning, and I took the cup from her hand, that was leaning to one side to the point of almost spilling out the liquid that was still in there.

Hours kept passing, and there was a indescribable peace on her face. It was incredible to see how Bella could still feel peace surrounded by so many monster, and so much pain. But she felt it.

I would never understand how someone so good and pure like her could've fallen in love with someone like me, a monster. That's what I was. Why didn't she accept it when she had the opportunity of running away?

Alice came downstairs then, something that resulted very strange to me. It wasn't usual that she came to accompany me while none of the wolves were around. Her head made her feel that at any moment would explode.

_Hello… yes, I'm back. Maybe a few minutes of pain are worth leaving the attic, you know?_

I smiled a bit, and shook my head. "If you say so."

Alice stuck her little tongue at me, and grimaced. "Yes, I say so."

She sat on the first step, and leaned her head over the rail. Rosalie had turned the TV off, but hadn't moved an inch.

My eyes had not moved from Bella for minutes, since Alice had come downstairs. So when I saw that her face twisted with pain, her eyes opening immediately, and then a loud sound and beyond horrible resounded on the room, her body arching and her back coming off the couch. For a moment I thought that the fetus was _stretching_ like Bella had said, but when I heard another sound, the sound of breaking bones, I launched myself at her, and ripped the blanket off that was over here again, Alice and Rosalie were by my side in a second, confused?

"Edward, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

I was okay. Bella was wrong, it must surely have broken her pelvis, the sound had been deafening. Why hadn't Carlisle come downstairs when hearing the fracture? What was happening with everyone?

Bella closed her eyes, and sighed deeply.

"I'm good. He was stretching."

What!

Rosalie came over her, and turned to see me before seeing Bella. "He was just stretching, wasn't he?"

Bella looked at her, confused. "Yes, that's how it felt."

"Carlisle?" I spoke to my father under my breath, Bella didn't even hear it.

"Leave her, Rosalie. I'm sure I heard a new fracture."

Rosalie and Bella looked at me as if I was crazy, or as if they didn't know what I was talking about. Even Alice.

"What is it, Edward?" Carlisle told me while he came into the room.

_Edward, there was no fracture. I didn't hear anything. I've told you, you need to check your ears._

"Shut up Rosalie." I growled, when I listened at her thoughts.

The four of them, Carlisle and Alice, Rosalie and Bella stared at me shocked, they had never seen me like this before. But it exasperated me that they wanted to reassure me, to calm me down assuring me that Bella was fine, when I perfectly had heard how her bones were breaking.

"Edward?" Bella told me, her tone was worried. "I don't feel any fracture. I mean it."

I shook my head quickly, trying to find some sense to her words. Why did she lie to me?

_Son, I didn't listen to anything, either._

"I listened to it, Carlisle. It's a fracture, can we check her, please?"

_This is insane, Edward. Bella's nothing wrong, she's well._

I ignored Rosalie, and stared at Carlisle, waiting for his answer.

He sighed before answering. "Okay. We won't lose anything by making you another X-ray, Bella."

Bella narrowed her eyes, and sighed defeated. "Okay." She told him nodding.

Rosalie walked to Bella, but I didn't have any intention of letting her that this time she'd pushed me away from her, nor she obstructed me of taking care of her.

I hissed in her direction, and glared at her. She was so selfish.

_Fine, you take her. She has nothing, anyway._

Alice hadn't said almost anything, and she heard Jacob nearing the house. _I'll stay to welcome Jacob, Edward._

I nodded before taking Bella in my arms.

I leaned down, and Bella raised her arms to put them around my neck. I took her carefully, conscious of the fracture she'd received.

The oddest of all, was that Bella didn't moaned at all, not even a little sigh, or the tightening of her lips trying not to scream or something. Even oddest, I hadn't heard the echo of the fracture of anyone else's mind, nor Alice nor Rosalie that had been on the same room. Carlisle hadn't come downstairs when I heard it, no one had been upset.

What was happening?

I took Bella upstairs the most delicately I could, walking the most calmly I could, trying not to move more than necessary so I wouldn't hurt her, it wasn't the only fracture she was suffering from.

I could listen to Jacob now, he was like a mile away from the house, coming over.

Carlisle turned the equipment on to check Bella, and put her on the right place. Her eyes went to Rosalie.

"Rose? Could you bring my…?"

"Here you are, Bella." Carlisle told her. Taking a cup of blood that was in his office.

Bella blushed. "Thanks, Carlisle."

_This is completely ridiculous, Edward. No one heard anything._

Carlisle started checking Bella. And listened to Alice opening the front door to welcome Jacob.

Alice nodded. "Hey, wolf."

_I really am getting used to the smell of wet dog. Ha._

"Hey, shortie. What's going on upstairs?"

"Well, Edward. I think Rosalie was right. There's no fracture at all."

My forehead creased. "It can't be. I listened to it perfectly, Carlisle. Are you sure?"

"Edward, there's nothing. Don't you understand?"

Bella didn't say anything. "Is it true, Bella?"

She looked at me worried, and a little scared. "It is. I'm fine, Edward."

I shook my head.

I saw Alice shrugging before answering Jacob. "Maybe another break."

Though Alice didn't show it in her voice, and though she was almost sure that she hadn't listened to a fracture this time, she remembered every beat Bella had received, and bitterness showed through her eyes. Jacob noticed.

"Another rib?" Jacob asked.

_I wish._ Alice thought. "No. Pelvis this time."

Rosalie snorted. _There's nothing, Alice._

Carlisle showed us the X-ray, and it was obvious there was nothing in it. That Bella was fine as she had said. As everyone had said.

_I think you were wrong, Edward._ Carlisle thought.

Rosalie turned to see me, then. _Do you want more proof?_

The two of us glared at each other as we'd never done before, and then her eyes changed as her thoughts did, smug. "See, I told you I didn't hear a crack. You need your eyes checked, Edward."

I didn't answer anything. Rosalie was making me lose the little patience I had left, just one more comment like those, and I wouldn't stop. Jacob wasn't here to take my place, like yesterday. If she thought that Emmett could stop me, she was very wrong.

Alice could see a glimpse of my future, not having anything to do with that thing…

"Edward's going to end up ripping Rose into small pieces, I think. I'm surprised she doesn't see that. Or maybe she thinks Emmett will be able to stop him."

_You dare, Edward. I don't need Emmett to defend myself._

I ignored her, and walked to Bella. I smiled a bit, and took her in my arms again, I didn't even turn to see Rosalie.

"I'll take Emmett. You can help Edward with the ripping part."

In that moment we came out of Carlisle's office, and walked to the staircase. While we were going downstairs I heard Alice thinking.

Alice smiled. _I would do it gladly, Edward. She deserves it._

I couldn't rightly see Bella's face, until we were in Jacob's sight, her face was pale white, the pain she felt was obvious, for as much as I tried to move her the less possible to not hurt her, it still hurt her.

When Bella saw Jacob, she smiled in spite of the pain. "Jake." I heard her say. Jacob didn't say anything.

When we got to the couch, I put down Bella very carefully, and I sat on the floor by her head. Rosalie and Carlisle were behind me. Then, I heard Jacob wondering why we didn't keep Bella upstairs, and quickly decided, that it must have surely been Bella's idea. Which was true.

_And he was humoring her. Naturally._

Yes, that was true, too. There was nothing I could deny to Bella. That was my worst mistake. But I didn't see the way to remedy it.

Carlisle came downstairs slowly, thinking about me. Worrying.

_I hope he's not losing his mind. There was no fracture and he affirmed having heard it…_

His face showed the worry I could see in his mind, and so could Jacob.

"Carlisle. We went halfway to Seattle. There's no sign of the pack. You're good to go." Jacob said, interrupting his thoughts.

_Oh, good news._

"Thank you, Jacob. This is good timing. There's much that we need." His mind went to the store where he kept the blood Bella was running off. His eyes then went to the cup in her hands.

"Honestly, I think you're safe to take more than three. I'm pretty positive that Sam is concentrating on La Push."

_Good._ Carlisle thought. He nodded, and said. "If you think so. Alice, Esme, Jasper and I will go. Then Alice can take Emmett and Rosa-"

_Of course not._ Rosalie thought. "Not a chance. Emmett can go with you now."

"You should hunt." Carlisle told her, his tone kind. Trying to reason with her, even when I already knew he wouldn't make it.

"I'll hunt when he does." Rosalie growled, turning to see me so we knew who she was referring to. Something that wasn't necessary. It didn't surprise anyone her answer.

_You think I'll let you alone with her._

Carlisle sighed. _Why would they be so stubborn?_

Jasper and Emmett came downstairs in that moment, and they stopped at the back door. Alice joined them, a little excited for being able to finally going out.

_Maybe we could stopped by to arrange…_ my eyes rested on her face for a second, and Alice stopped dead her thought. Hiding from me what she was thinking. Then, Esme joined her.

I saw Carlisle put his hand over Jacob, and though he didn't like that Carlisle did it, didn't cringe away. "Thank you." Carlisle told him.

_We'll be back soon, Edward. Don't worry._ Carlisle told me before leaving.

The four of them disappeared in a few seconds. After another ones, before Jacob could react, I couldn't hear their thoughts anymore.

Rosalie was glaring at Jacob balefully, thinking why he hadn't gone, too. Jacob felt her eyes on him of course, and knew rightly who it was. And instead of going to sleep as he had planned, he decided to stay and annoy Rosalie, an opportunity like this one he wouldn't want to let it escape.

Then Jacob walked toward the chair that was by Rosalie's side, and sat comfortably on it. His head was in Bella's direction, and his feet were almost on Rosalie's face.

I had to accept, that having Jacob annoying Rosalie in that way, was almost a relief.

"Ew. Someone put the dog out." Rosalie complained, her nose wrinkling.

_That damn stench. Don't they take baths? Oh, right. That wouldn't take the stench away._

"Have you heard this one, Psycho? How do a blonde's brain cells die?"

_Mmm, it was about time for him to find a new one. Dammit!_

Rosalie didn't know the answer, and that bothered her even more.

"Well? Do you know the punch line or not?"

She didn't even turn to see him her eyes on the TV. _Agh._

"Has she heard it?" Jacob asked me.

Without moving my eyes from Bella, I answered him. "No."

"Awesome. So you'll enjoy this, bloodsucker-a blonde's brain cells die alone."

_That's enough. I wish I could…_ without turning to see him, she told him. "I have killed a thousand times more often that you have, you disgusting beast. Don't forget that."

"Someday. Beauty Queen, you're going to get tired of just threatening me. I'm really looking forward to that."

Bella got tired of them, I saw it on her expression. "Enough, Jacob."

She looked at him scowling.

_Well, I didn't want to bug her._ "You want me to take off?"

Rosalie immediately thought, _say yes, please._

And though sometimes I wished she would too, I knew Bella wouldn't want that. Not in that moment at least.

Like I thought, Bella blinked, shocked that Jacob had thought that, her forehead became straight. "No! Of course not!"

Jacob sighed, and I did too. But I did so quietly that Bella didn't notice.

_Too bad that he'd never ask her to do anything that might make her unhappy._ Jacob thought when he listened to me, knowing I had sighed, wishing that Bella would have gotten tired of him, and finally wanted him to leave. But it was true, I would never ask her to.

"You look tire." Bella said.

"Dead beat." Jacob admitted, there was no way he could fool her.

"I'd like to beat you dead." Rosalie murmured, low so Bella wouldn't listen to her.

Then, while Jacob got settled on the chair to keep annoying Rosalie, his feet so close to her face, that Rosalie got rigid, I listened to the sound again, but it was getting more distinct, clearer.

I stayed a few minutes trying to figure out what it was, when I listened to Bella speaking to Rosalie.

"Rosalie, I think it's over. Could you, please?"

"Of course." Rosalie got up quickly, more hurried to get away from Jacob and his stench than to give what the fetus wanted.

The blood that had been in the kitchen had run out so Rosalie ran upstairs to look for more. Jacob was considering taking a nap, when I heard a sigh, a murmur.

But, where?

_Mmmm._

"Did you say something?" I asked Bella.

I had heard clearly the sigh, but there was no one that could have been. Maybe Bella had sighed, but I hadn't seen her moving her lips.

_Strange. Because no one had said__ anything, and because Edward's hearing was as good as mine, and he should have known that._

So Jacob hadn't heard anything. It couldn't have been Bella, or even Rosalie. It had been in my mind. But…

Bella looked at me, confused. I could see that my eyes reflected on hers the same confusion.

What was happening? Was it possible that…?

"Me? I didn't say anything." Bella answered me after a second, thinking.

_Mmmm… nice._

I heard that voice again, when Bella spoke.

It wasn't possible. I leaned toward Bella, my eyes on her face. Would it be Bella I could listen to? I couldn't be sure, I had never heard her thoughts, I didn't know how they sounded like. But it was impossible to believe for me that it was her, but it was more impossible to believe that it was the fetus I was listening to.

"What are you thinking about right now?"

Bella was still puzzled, her face blank. "Nothing. What's going on?"

"What were you thinking about a minute ago?"

"Just… Esme's island. And feathers."

Her face blushed. But that wasn't what my mind had heard, and the sound got louder.

_That voice… nice._

What was that? What voice? "Say something else." I told her, trying to understand, to listen and to finally know who that voice was from that I was listening.

"Like what? Edward, what's going on?"

_Mmmm…_ I heard the murmur again.

Then, something I never thought I would do, something I never believed I could do, but I had to do in this moment, is that thing was what I was listening… I had to be sure, I bent over her stomach, I wasn't conscious about anything that was going on outside of me, I was only conscious of Bella, watching every step I gave. I closed my hand over her stomach, and the most carefully and lightly I could, put them over her stomach.

"The f-" I swallowed, changing the word I was going to use. "It… the baby likes the sound of your voice."

That was it, I could listen to the joy he felt every time he listened to Bella speak, I had heard him just when Bella spelled a word.

This was… unbelievable.

How was it possible that it could change so rapidly what I felt toward it? How was it possible that the darkness were finally clearing? Just for hearing his voice…

Everyone became silent for a moment, while I kept listening to sighs and murmurs from Bella's inside.

"Holy crow, you can hear him!" Bella shouted.

_Aaahh!_ A small yell of fear sounded in my head, and Bella cringed, pain crossing her eyes.

I moved my hands to the place where I believed I'd seen the… fetus beat her, and patted it sweetly.

"Shh. You startled it… him." I told Bella, listening how the fetus started to calm me when listening to my voice, and felt my hands patting Bella's stomach, it was almost as if I were touching, too. Almost.

Her eyes got wide, and I could see all the love and adoration that I hadn't been able to feel by her side during all these weeks. I could feel the same love growing up inside of me without even being conscious about it.

Bella patted lightly at the same spot I had been patting. "Sorry, baby."

_Mmmm…_

I was trying to listen with more thoroughness to the thoughts of the baby. It was wonderful how it made me feel knowing that that creature it was mine and Bella's. for the first time, I felt happy to know that Bella would make a father, and I would make her a mother. I tilted my head a little, as if that would help me to hear better.

"What's he thinking now?" I heard Bella asking me, almost demanding for an answer.

_So pretty… more. More, like it._

"It… he or she, is…" I stopped, listening. Then, I turned to see Bella, I was careful not to let her see what was threatening me to grow inside of me, the same adoration I saw and felt in Bella. I couldn't love something that hurt her so much, but… "He's happy."

Bella stopped breathing when she heard me. Her eyes filled with that adoration that I couldn't prevent myself from doing, not anymore. Not when I was seeing the love in her eyes, tears started rolling down her cheeks, tears of happiness, there was no pain in them. Only love. Looking at her, I felt how our feelings toward the baby had changed, now they were the same ones.

I loved him. As much as I loved Bella. How could I help it?

"Of course you're happy, pretty baby, of course you are." Bella was speaking to him, her voice sound more like a song than words. Tears were flowing still down her eyes, and I knew, that if I had been able to cry, I would have been crying by her side. "How could you not be, all safe and warm and loved? I love you so much, little EJ, of course you're happy."

_Happy! Mmm… mmm…_

EJ? It wasn't what I thought. "What do you call him?" it didn't matter, it wasn't as if Bella and I were going to talk about the name of our baby, not before…

Bella blushed. "I sort of name him. I didn't think you would want… well, you know.

"EJ?"

"Your father's name was Edward, too."

"Yes it was. What-?" _mmm… like it, too. Pretty, pretty._ "Hmm."

Had I heard well?

"What?" Bella asked me.

"He likes my voice, too." _More… two… pretty._

"Of course he does. You have the most beautiful voice in the universe. Who wouldn't love it?"

Rosalie, as usual, interrupted what I might have said to Bella. I didn't care much, I was too shocked to bother me.

I was listening to the voice of our baby. How could I love someone that I had never seen, someone that until a few minutes ago I hated so much? But I felt that love growing slowly, running through each part of my body, it almost made me feel like I was going to explode. That so much love wouldn't be possible to feel, where once I had only loved more than anyone else, my Bella, now there was someone else. And that didn't make me love her less, but loved her more.

"Do you have a backup plan?" Rosalie leaned over Bella. "What if he's a she?"

I saw from Rosalie how Bella wiped the humidity under her eyes before answering. "I kicked a few things around. Playing with Renée and Esme. I was thinking… Ruh-nez-may."

"Ruhnezmay?"

"R-e-n-e-s-m-e-e. Too weird?"

"No, I like it. It's beautiful. And one of a kind, so that fits."

"I still think he's an Edward."

I had only heard what they said like far away, I was still focused on what the baby was thinking. Bella realized it from my expression. She knew it too well.

"What? What's he thinking now?"

_Want… much… pretty… voice._

I could listen to a murmur, but without even realizing, I found myself leaning toward her belly, I listened to Bella gasped when she saw what I was doing. I put my ear against her stomach, carefully and in an almost loving way.

_Love much… that voice… love it._ I could almost hear a smile, while I was listening to him.

"He loves you." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It changed everything. There was no way I could hate him in that moment. I could never hate something that loved Bella in that way. It was… unbelievable, disconcerting. "He absolutely adores you."

How could I hate him? Well, I simply, couldn't.

Without realizing it, I loved him, perhaps I had always loved him, that's why that love was coming to me so easily now, without deciding to do so. Our baby loved Bella, he loved her, with just knowing that that person that was carrying him loved him, and took care of him in such a loving way, made him love her. Just listening to her, made him happy.

What other surprises would bring to my life this wonderful angel that heaven had given me?

I would never have imagined, never in my life that this were going to happen, that this were going to happen to me someday of my existence.

Bella was half sit, both of us leaned toward her stomach, toward our baby. Everything else seemed to have disappeared. For the first time, I felt that we were a family. Bella had always loved him and now she loved him more, I could see it in her eyes, and I could feel it in me, I, too, loved him.

I didn't know how, nor when he would come to the world, but of something I was sure, I wouldn't allow that in his ignorance, he would kill his own mother, and he himself would prevent himself from having by his side his parents. I would do everything I could do and much more to save Bella from ending her life before she could enjoy of her son, of who she so much had fought for, against everything and everyone, even against me. She didn't have to fear now, because I would make sure that our baby wouldn't lose her mom. I would make sure that Bella would see him grow up and give him all the love she felt for him for the rest of their days.

It was overwhelming the hope that suddenly I was feeling inside of me, like a peace that invaded me and made me see the future more hoping than I had ever seen it. Bella would be by my side forever, we would be a family, something I never thought would happen.

Bella had surprised me yet again, in the most beautiful way.

Only an angel like her could've given me such a gift in this existence, without her, without her love, we wouldn't be here, listening to how our son loved her…

The happiness I felt filling the atmosphere with just Bella and me, saw itself stained when I listened to Jacob. I had been so fascinated with the baby's thoughts, that I hadn't heard anything around me, but now that I listened…

_How stupid—as if you could ever trust a leech! Of course he would betray me in the end._

_I'd counted on him to suffer more than I suffered. I'd trusted him with that._

_Yet now they were together… like a happy family._

_And I was all alone with my hatred and the pain… so bad you'd take death with a smile…_

Jacob rose off the floor then, and our heads flew toward his direction.

"Ahh." It was unfair, I knew it. But… what could I do?

I was just listening to Jacob without knowing what to do. He just stayed stood in the room, thinking and not thinking at the same time, his mind didn't give him an answer. He just felt the heat and trembles running through his body, ready to switch forms or run away from the pain that he was feeling in that moment, a pain so terrible, that not even me had felt, not in that way, not for the same reasons.

What he wanted was to escape.

Who was me to deny him an easy getaway, if it could be called this way?

I stood up immediately from Bella's side, and in less than a second I was toward the table that was by the couch, there were the keys from my cars at that moment. I hadn't needed them in the last weeks, so I had kept them close by. I decided that the most convenient, the best thing in that moment to give him his getaway, was to give him the keys from my Aston Martin, it was faster, and I thought that was what Jacob would want, to feel he was running away from this abysm. I took them and threw them off to him.

Without knowing what it was that I was giving him, Jacob took them out of reflex.

"Go, Jacob. Get away from here."

Jacob understood what my words were saying to him. I was giving him the escape he so much wanted at this moment, and then he understood it was a set of keys what I had given him. He disappeared from the house to the garage, while I was reading what he was thinking, I didn't regret having given him _that_ car.

_The second part of my plan was totaling the bloodsucker's car on my way back._

The car he was seeing in his mind was the Volvo, he didn't have any idea that the set of keys that he had in his hand wasn't that car's, but the one nor him nor Bella had even seen before.

So when he pressed the alarm to open the car, and they weren't the Volvo's lights that shined, of course he was confused, but he ignored it and got into the car to get away. In a few second he was out of my reach.

Bella hadn't had time to react. But when she did, her eyes were begging me for an explanation, words couldn't come out of her mouth.

What was I going to tell her?

"He'll come back, Bella. He just… had to… get away for a moment."

Bella nodded, understanding the reason Jacob had had to stormed out of the house.

Minutes passed, and Bella calmed down.

"Is he okay"

I sighed, and shook my head. "I don't know. The only thing I know now, is that he was too shocked for what… happened."

Bella bit her lips, and something changed in her eyes. Like what I had said to her had disappeared, like if everything else didn't matter in such a special, important moment like this. I understood perfectly. I felt again in high school, in the cafeteria when time and everything else didn't matter but just the two of us together, only now we were three.

Bella nodded again, and sighed. As if getting ready to let that behind for the moment.

Her eyes rested on my face, and a different light shined in them… something like, understanding?

"So…"

She smiled at me, and stretched her hand to take one of mine, and smiled again.

"Do he love me?" she asked me with a huge smile, there was no more that worship on her. Happiness.

"Absolutely." I raised my eyebrows. "As much as you love him… or her."

Bella shrugged. "I think he's an Edward."

That reminded me. "J?"

Bella blushed before answering, though she didn't have to do it to imagine that that letter meant. "Jacob." She said the name as an explanation, that was it.

_Jacob? Come on, I don't want the name of a disgusting dog in our baby._

I ignored Rosalie's though, it wasn't _her_ baby.

I shook my head, frowning. "I don't think that's a good idea Bella."

Her eyes narrowed, and she smiled again. "What? Are we going to choose the name of our son together?" there was nothing more than a little hope in her eyes, and happiness, much happiness.

"I don't think so." I told her, but her face fell down a bit. She had misunderstood me, so I corrected myself. "Because I think you made a good job. I like Renesmee."

Bella half smiled. "But… EJ? What do you think?"

"Edward Jacob." I mused about it. Honestly, it was terrible. "Edward Jacob Cullen?"

"Or Masen." She told me with a smile. "Edward Jacob Masen Swan. What do you say?"

I couldn't help it, I laughed at her answer. Never, not in a million years would I mix none of my last names with the name of Jacob. I didn't feel any hard feeling toward him, I couldn't even hate him, but that wasn't… right. It didn't even sound good.

"My last name, Mrs. Cullen is… Cullen."

Bella bit her lip. "Well, you… said that I had done a good job, so…"

"You're not going to change your mind."

Bella didn't answer, but there was some regret light in her eyes. I was wondering what she had seen in my face, something I hadn't recognized in her eyes and I hadn't been conscious that it was in my eyes.

I didn't like it. I didn't want that _our_ son, carried the name of the only man in the universe that was capable of making Bella doubt about her love to me, of the only man that almost ripped her away from me forever, I didn't want to have that reminder everytime that I said my son's name. I never thought that I was going to think of him, that way, my son. But he was, and I didn't want him to have that name. I neither thought, that some day I were going to consider the idea of having a son, so I had never thought if I would want to have a boy or a girl, but for the first time in weeks, I wished it was a girl and that Bella were wrong about her confidence that it was a boy.

Renesmee was a much more beautiful and appropriate name, like Rosalie had said.

Our daughter. Renesmee Cullen Swan.

"Renesmee?" I asked her.

It seemed like I had pulled Bella out of a dream, she shook a little her head, and blushed again. "Yes, I like it. It's the name of both her grand moms. I'm sure Esme would be happy, and though Renee won't be able to… know, you know, I'm also sure that that would make her crazy with joy."

I was about to answer, when she interrupted me. "Ah, and it's not all. I also thought in the name of her grand dads."

"Ah, yeah?"

"Yes. Carlie. After Carlisle and Charlie. Do you like it?"

Rosalie hadn't mentioned any word, but she was agreeing with me about the name of the baby in case it was a boy, she didn't want him to be name Jacob either. And like me, she liked Carlie, too.

"I love it. Hey, you have great taste, love."

Bella blushed, while she bit her lips. She shook her head, and her eyes narrowed. "Rose, I'm thirsty. Could you bring me some more?"

"Of course, Bella. " Rosalie told her with a smile.

"You don't know how much this makes me happy. Being considering name for our baby, _together¸ _Edward. Really, I never thought this day would come."

"Me either. I'm still shocked."

Bella smiled. "I am… mmm… happy. How else could I be?"

I considered her question, and there was no other way to feel, neither she nor me. For the first time, I felt happy by her side again. I finally felt, how I was coming out that black hole, how the light was coming to be the reason of my existence again by Bella's side, by the side of both of them.

How could it be possible that my life turned around two people now?

"And you?" Bella asked me, hesitating. Not wanting to force me.

It was confusing, but I didn't feel miserable, or in pain life before. Now, I was sure that Bella would live. That I would make sure of.

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm not sure."

Bella smiled, and pulled me towards her, our heads together, it was almost as if we were laid together, only that I was still on the floor. She had her arms tightly around my neck, she turned to see me and smiled again, the, she gave me a short kiss on my cheek.

"I love you, Edward Cullen."

"As I love you."

Rosalie was still upstairs, it was as if, strangely, she was giving us time alone, without her here by our side, trying to prevent that I made something stupid, like she considered it. I could see in her mind, that she felt a little more trust toward me after what had happened moments ago.

After a few minutes of an enjoyable silence, Bella turned to see me again. Her eyes were intense with a new feeling. Curiosity.

"Do you hear him now?"

I leaned my head toward her stomach a bit, I listened how Rosalie stopped a moment, listening.

"No. Do you think he's asleep?"

Bella smiled hugely. "Probably. _I'm_ sleepy instead of thirsty. Would it bee because he's asleep?"

I considered it for a minute, remembering like before, I had only heard the buzzing and then the babbling more clearly when Bella had been awake, and how it seemed to turn off when Bella was asleep.

"It's a possibility." I caressed her cheek softly. "Sleep, love. I'll take care of your dream, as always."

She smiled again, and her lids started closing slowly, until her eyes didn't open again. Rosalie came back, with the cup on her hand and put it on the side table.

She didn't say anything, and tried not to think in anything that had to do with the baby, and what had happened a while ago. She was just thinking about the name Bella had decided to choose for our child, a little resented that she hadn't considered her.

What had happened with the team?

For a part, I was glad Bella didn't give her one hundred percent of the authority in the decisions that had to do with the baby. That made it more the mother, just her. No one else, not even Rosalie.

I snapped my head, when I listened to the thoughts of a woman walking closer to the house, they were almost mean thoughts, they were furious. Then I heard better, and saw the image of Jacob while he drove away through the driveway. Leah.

_I'm gonna have a few words with that bloodsucker-to-be. She's gonna listen to me. This's got to stop. Jacob doesn't deserve such pain…_

"Damn!"

Rosalie turned to see me, and then to the front of the house. Leah was getting closer with incredible speed. She was at a few feet from the house.

_Who is it, Edward?_

"Leah."

_What?_

"She wants to talk to Bella."

"She can't. You won't allow it, will you?"

"I don't think there's any way to stop it."

I could read the decision in her mind, every minute getting stronger. No, there would be no way to stop this argument.

"I'll be right back, Rose."

Rosalie nodded, and got over Bella in a protective way.

I walked toward the door, Leah was coming up the stairs, her steps were slow by determined.

I came out of the house, and Leah was standing in the middle of the stairs, I took a step out of the house and stayed stood there. A few steps between us.

_You're gonna explain to me why Jacob left that way, so abruptly. I saw him, he was bad, really bad._

"I'm sorry, Leah."

_Who told you that you could call me that way, as if we were friends, parasite?_ Leah growled.

"But I don't think that… Jacob wanted to be here anymore. Not for the moment. But he'll be back."

Leah wasn't very convinced. Then she started to go back to the woods, her mind concentrated in what she was going to do. Change to her human form. I turned toward the door of the house.

I whispered to Rosalie. "She's phasing."

_Crap!_ Rosalie thought. Remembering what a bad moment the others had chosen to leave us alone.

Leah got out in her human form from the woods, walking to the stairs to get up to the porch, in her human form. She was decided to speak with Bella, I saw it now more clearly than before. Yes, there was no way to stop her, she wasn't even considering to listen to anyone, not even Bella. She just came to make some points clear, to demand her to stop hurting Jacob.

_That Bella _Cullen_ is gonna listen to me._

Leah stopped when she was in the last stair. Her face showed no surprise at all when seeing me waiting for her outside of the house yet. She knew I wouldn't allow easily for her to come inside and talk to Bella, she didn't care. Still, I listened to the shudder that ran through her. Her instinct of preservation begged her to get away from me when seeing my black eyes. But she stayed stood in front of me, her eyes glaring at me balefully and disgustedly, she didn't even hesitate when the smell of vampire hit her hard at being so close to the house.

"I came to see Bella, bloodsucker." Leah told me, her tone full of contempt. Her eyes moved to the hall that went to the inside of the house, looking for Bella with her eyes.

"What do you want with her, Leah? I know what you came for, and it's not necessary for you to talk to Bella. I cant explain-"

"I didn't come here for an explanation. I _want_ to talk to Bella."

I shook my head, and my eyes hardened. "That is not going to be possible. I am not going to let you hurt her, do you listen? Bella is not happy hurting Jacob, she doesn't do it on purpose."

"I told you, bloodsucker, that I didn't come for an explanation. I'll talk to her any way. I don't care if have to get over your dead body."

_Which wouldn't be so hard, since you're already dead._

Leah had kept her voice very calm. Her words were coming out of her mouth almost a shout, and listened to Bella whine a little, she yawned and her eyes opened. Rosalie was looking at her worriedly, wishing that she would stay asleep so Leah wouldn't be able to talk to her.

"What's going on, Rose?"

The sound of her voice, made Leah's eyes to snap toward the place where her voice was coming.

She smirked, and walked toward me.

"I'm willing to kick you out of here, if necessary…"

_Ooohh, I'm scared._ Leah thought.

I turned my back on her, and came back to Bella's side, before Rosalie had time to answer Bella, and she from suspecting why Rosalie wasn't answering.

Her eyes rested on my face, understanding my expression, and fear crossed her eyes.

I felt Leah walking behind me. Then I saw her walking into the room from Rosalie's eyes.

"Leah wants to talk to you, Bella."

"What? Why?"

"Jacob." Was all I told her.

Bella shuddered, understanding the reason Leah was there.

She closed her eyes, sighed deeply and nodded. "Okay."

In that moment, Leah came into the room. Her eyes intent on Bella. It was shocking, even to me, to see how much hatred emanated from Leah toward each one of us, even Bella. How she hated her for every mark she'd left on Jacob, for every time she'd seen him suffering for her. Leah understood better than anyone, having suffered the same pain, to love someone that didn't love you back. Sam.

Leah got closer, and stopped a few feet from the couch where Bella was laid. In her mind, I could see how she compared the Bella she had in front of her in that moment, with the Bella she'd seen in Jacob for the past days. Seeing her so much better, not so sick as the beginning encouraged her sincerity to come out without stopping.

"Leah, what brings you here?" Bella asked her, we could listen to the effort she was making to try to sound normal, but the fear made her voice trembled a little.

Her eyes tensed when she heard her. "I'm sick of this, Bella _Cullen_. I'm sick of seeing Jacob suffering because of you, you know? That boy, had done nothing but loving you in a desperate way. He had done nothing more than trying to save you. And you, what have you done? You dumped him to marry a bloodsucker parasite. You slept with him, you got pregnant and still, here you have him. So he would see you by you monster's side while he waits for the bloodsucker you're carrying to be born."

"Leah, stop." I told her. Her eyes didn't move from Bella's face.

_If you don't kick he rout, Edward, I will._

The silence lasted for a second. And Bella sobbed. "I know that Jacob isn't happy here, Leah. And that I'm being selfish for wanting him to be here. But, I promise, that it not my intention-"

"What? Hurt him?" Leah interrupted Bella. "Well, flash news: you are. You don't have to listen how he suffers, but you should know it. Even your bloodsucker knows it."

She stopped for another second. When Bella didn't answer, she continued. "Just leave him alone, let him be happy. What is it that you want? Being married with your bloodsucker and being the werewolve's lover?" Bella gasped when she hear the conclusion Leah had come to. She was crossing the line and my patience… "You don't want Jacob to be around here when you're the happy family, do you?"

"Leah, you're forcing me to take you out of here. I don't want to do it, I'm not beating some lady."

"I can do it." Rosalie said, glaring at Leah.

Our voices didn't register in her mind, but didn't turn to see neither of us. In truth she didn't care what we said.

"I just hope that after this, _Cullen_, you understand that you can't have both. And I think, you already chose, you'd done it already. You stayed with the bloodsucker you have for a husband. So let Jacob leave, to get away form you, so he'll be able to stop suffering. Stop making him suffer, it's the only thing you should do for him. You've done nothing for him, but to cause him pain."

Bella was staring to the floor, her forehead wrinkled. Tears started to fall down her cheeks, and it could be listened how they hit the floor. She didn't say anything.

"Well, I hoped you've understood. That I have been very clear. You're not even a bloodsucker and you're already a monster. I don't understand how Jacob can love you." Then she turned to see me. She raised her eyebrows, and a smile of satisfaction spread across her lips. "I hope you're very _unhappy_ with your monsters. Good bye."

Rosalie got closer to her, and Leah didn't shudder or something, just stared at her. "What, Blondie? Are you gonna hit me? I can defend myself."

Rosalie growled, and then Bella turned to her. "No, Rose. Please."

Leah smiled again, and Rosalie hissed. "Get out of here, you stink dog."

"Gladly."

And with that, Leah disappeared for where she'd come, I heard her phasing back and disappearing into the woods.

I was by her side immediately. Trying to dry the tears that were still gushing down her cheeks with my fingers. "Bella, love? Don't worry. Leah doesn't know what happened. She just supposed-"

"What?" Bella asked me sobbing. "That I hurt Jacob _again_? What she said is true. Not everything, of course. But I'm always hurting him. Why can't I let him go? I have you, Edward. It's what I've always wanted, I have _you_. What's the matter with me?"

She started crying harder, and Rosalie came over.

"Bella, this isn't doing any good to the baby. Calm down."

For the first time, I used the same words to try to calm Bella down. It was the only thing that would make her relax at that moment.

"Rose is right, Bella. Please." Rosalie turned to see me, a little skeptical, but didn't say anything.

Bella turned to see me, tears wouldn't stop. "I can't, Edward." Another sob interrupted her words, before she could continue. "I am hurting him, I am hurting _you_. Just why? I don't understand, I can't."

Rosalie had no idea of what to say, so she just sat on the arm of the couch by her head, and started caressing her hair, trying to calm her.

The tears didn't stop for a few hours. For as much as I tried to calm her, to ask her not to cry, not to feel bad about it, nothing worked. She always got back to saying the same thing, to ask herself why she had to be the one that hurt two people so important in her life. Jacob and me.

Honestly, I didn't understand either. It wasn't a reason to let her suffer that way, anyway. That was worse that a lot of things, I didn't stand seeing her suffer for what Leah had said, for the suffering she said she inflicted on me and Jacob. I tried everything, all that came to my mind, but none of my words made Bella felt relieved, or less upset.

There had been so much happiness just a few minutes back, that it was impossible to believe that we were drowned in pain the two of us now.

Would we never have full happiness? Was it prohibited to us?

It was the most certain, my punishment for every one of the sins I've committed through all my existence. This must be my penance.

After a few hours, Bella fell asleep. I dried with my fingers the humidity that was left on her cheeks, and covered her with a blanket. I sat on the floor by her side. I looked at her face, I could see how tiredness had won over her, her face, though was asleep, didn't look in peace or resting.

Then, I heard from a few miles of distance, the thoughts of Alice and Jasper coming closer. But they were coming alone. Carlisle, Esme and Emmett weren't with them.

"Alice and Jasper are coming." I told Rosalie.

She turned to see me, her eyes hesitating. _Just them?_

"Yes."

In a few minutes, the two of them got home. Alice was the first one coming in. Jasper went upstairs immediately, he just gave us a quick hello before disappearing and left Alice to explain us why they were just coming without the rest.

"Hi, Edward. Rose."

"What is it, Alice? Where's everybody else?"

_Oh, don't worry._

"Carlisle couldn't get as much blood as he wanted to… so they stayed to try to get another source, you know."

"When will they be back?"

_I'm not sure, Edward. Carlisle thinks tomorrow midday._

"Tomorrow." Alice said for Rosalie's benefit.

Then, Alice frowned, her mind filling with images of my face. What she was looking now, was nothing close to what she had seen since we had come back from Isle Esme.

_What's happened? That I don't know of. You look different, Edward. In a good way, but…_

I didn't answer to her, so Alice insisted. "Tell me, Edward."

I sighed, I didn't know where to start.

She turned to see Rosalie, who had her eyes on us. "What's going on, that you're not telling me?"

I also turned to see Rosalie, and sighed again. _Should we tell her? It's not something wrong. On the contrary…_

I nodded. "I'll tell you, Alice." Rosalie agreed with me. How to tell her?

"So?"

"I can hear the baby's thoughts."

At first, it was as if Alice hadn't heard the first part of my sentence. She just listened that I had called the _fetus_, the _monster_, that _thing_, finally baby.

Her face fell a bit. "Now you're calling him baby?"

"Didn't you listen to what I told you?"

"Of course I did." Then… "Oh! Oh. Did you hear to what the baby is thinking?" she asked, very shocked.

I nodded, not very sure of how to explain. "That's right. I had been listening to him all the time, it's just that it wasn't words before. Remember how many times did I ask you for a buzz or a sound that nobody else listened but me?" the two nodded. "Well, it was him. His mind wasn't as well developed to be able to articulate words, so that was what I listened."

The two of them were very surprised, understanding what I hadn't understood for so many days.

"It was him?" Alice asked.

"That's right."

_Wow, Edward. This is… unbelievable. I can't believe it._

"Can you hear him now?"

I lowered my look towards Bella's stomach, and I came closer to it for our usual speed. Both of them were staring at me while I got closer to Bella who was still asleep.

"He's awake. His thoughts are coherent."

"What's he saying, what's he thinking?"

_Not… moving… hurt…_

I gasped, stunned by hearing to what the baby was thinking. How was it possible that he was aware that by moving he hurt Bella?

"What's wrong, Edward?"

"He's…" I felt as if I was choking so I stopped, I took a deep breath I didn't need, and kept talking. "trying not to move, he doesn't want to hurt Bella."

Rosalie smiled. Alice was too shocked to react in any way.

"Are you serious, Edward? Is he aware of that?" Rosalie asked. "How is that possible?" I listened to her saying, but it sound more like a question to herself, than looking for an answer.

"Impossible as it seems, it's true." I told them both.

"Oh, our little EJ… or Renesmee. You know, Edward? I would really rather she was a girl."

_What?_ "Who are you talking about? EJ? Renesmee?"

"Oh, right. You don't know. Those are the name Bella picked for her baby." Rosalie explained.

"EJ?" _don't tell me is…_

"Yes, Alice. Edward _Jacob_."

_Bella's completely out of her mind, isn't her?_ Alice smiled. "Renesmee?"

"Renesmee Carlie, actually. The two are a combination of Renée and Esme, Carlisle and Charlie."

_Of course._ Alice thought.

In that moment, the two of them got talking about what had happened, letting me consider the fact that the baby was trying with all his might not to move in such a way that would hurt his mother…

_Pretty voice… love it._

It left me speechless when I heard him again. It was a thought that was often in his mind, it was beyond loving the body in which he was growing, he loved the person that he felt surrounding him, he loved the voice that protected him and told him how much she wanted from the outside.

How could I hate him? How could I hate that little person that loved Bella before even been born, before seeing the light with his own eyes and his mother? I couldn't.

Perhaps for that reason, I couldn't hate Jacob either, when Bella loved him and he loved her. I couldn't hate something or someone that felt love for this wonderful angel that was in front of my eyes, that had almost give herself to death for this baby, for _our_ baby.

Bella was not going to die, she was going to live.

She was going to have what she'd never had before, a big family.

What she never dreamed she would have, what I never dreamed I would be able to give her, a son to have our own family.

How was I going to let her die?

I wasn't.

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	18. Chapter 17, NEW PLAN

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**I'm so sorry it took me again more time than I had told you, but I was at my grand mom's house last week and she doesn't have a computer, so I couldn't keep translating the chapter to upload it. But I'm back and it's done. And I'm working on the next one.**

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CHAPTER 17. New plan

"Can you imagine what Esme would say when she's back and knows about this? When she sees you, Edward?"

_Agh, say you do. I can't see it…_ Alice was thinking.

She was so excited about the news, so happy that there was finally some peace surrounding the atmosphere, that my face and emotions finally were in peace with what was happening. That I had accepted the baby, that I didn't hate him.

Even her, couldn't hate him, or less dramatic-she never really hated him-didn't dislike him like at the beginning. It also hurt her and suffered by my side specially when Bella suffered for every hit she received, every time we saw her getting sicker, every day that passed and her condition instead of getting better only got worse, and now she saw us, and her mind was in peace, too.

It didn't even bother her not seeing the future, she knew, somehow, that everything would be fine for the first time. It was fascinating the change that it had caused in everyone, the simple fact of listening to what he thought.

"Yes, Alice. I can imagine what Esme will feel, how she'll react." I told her with a smile.

_Wow, I would've never imagined it. Listen to what he thinks… that he loves you both._

It had been only a few hours since Alice and Jasper had returned. Alice hadn't been able to hold herself back for a long while, from one side to another, trying to think in things for the baby's room. She didn't even remember that I could listen to what she was thinking. She had done a great job with the house Esme had decided to give Bella and I, and now she knew, that Bella would be able to enjoy it.

After a while, I had begun to think about the plan Carlisle had, about when would be the right time for the baby to be born. But it was insane trying to wait until he was ready, it would be safer for Bella, if we got him out of her stomach before it was time, it was more obvious that the baby was already ready to be born, we didn't need to wait those three days, that according to Carlisle were still left.

Since the beginning we should've known that this couldn't be compared with a normal pregnancy, that Carlisle shouldn't be counting on the baby being ready by the size of Bella's stomach. This morning she had thirty-three centimeters, and the baby, apparently was ready to be born yet. Something that wouldn't happen if he was human, completely human like his mother.

I felt more hope than I had been able to feel in the last weeks. If everything went as Bella had planned from the beginning, nothing had to be wrong.

It would be easier, as much for Bella as for me, if the baby didn't cause damage to her body when he tried to get out of her by his own means. Bella would turn out less hurt, and so we could make the change without fearing that Bella wouldn't survive. Yes, it was better that we didn't wait for the baby to decide in which moment he wanted to get out of the inside of Bella.

So I had to talk to Carlisle, but before I had to convince Rosalie and Bella that what I was planning wouldn't be dangerous for the baby. In those moments, I wouldn't allow for anyone of them to get hurt or something, Bella had to know, she had to believe in me. But deeply, I knew it would easier to convince my entire family together, than Rosalie. Bella only had to look into my eyes, to listen the sincerity that she could only recognize in my voice so she would be convinced that I would never let anything happen to any of them that could take them away from me forever.

Not now.

Where there had been only one important person in my life before, now there were two. Bella knew it, she had noticed the change since I had listened to the thoughts of our baby.

But Rosalie. What was I going to do with Rosalie? I didn't have any idea if it would actually be harder than necessary. I could see in her mind, but it was always difficult to understand her decisions, I never knew what caused them. And if she thought the baby was in danger she wouldn't allow it. But I also knew, that if convinced Bella, she would convince Rosalie.

Alice was upstairs, so I didn't need her yet. I would have to start with Bella and Rosalie, if I convinced them, I could immediately call Carlisle and try to convince him.

Bella had several minutes of having awakened, her eyes hadn't stopped looking over my face with a smile, and then, they went to her stomach. She had been doing it, her eyes moved from my face to her stomach, and from her stomach to my face. Her smiled didn't cease. It seemed she wasn't getting tired, it was as if I could read every one of my words in her eyes. The happiness she was feeling had her glowing.

I had never seen something more beautiful than this angel.

I wasn't going to let her go that easily.

"Bella? Rosalie?"

Rosalie was the only one who turned to see me, Bella had already her eyes on my face, and they were narrowed, noticing the change in them. I was wondering what was going through her mind at that moment, what she was thinking of my expression, what she had felt when hearing me talking about the baby and his thoughts.

I guess it would be a secret forever.

"What's it, Edward?" Bella asked, a little worried.

"Nothing you have to worry about, love." I smiled at her, and turned to see Rosalie. "I've been thinking, and I think that…"

_Your ideas aren't always good, Edward. What you're thinking about now?_

We were starting up the wrong way with Rosalie, of course. She and her distrust toward each one of the members of the family, specially toward me, wasn't going to help me much in this case.

"What?"

"I think it would be better, safer for you Bella-"

"Our baby?" Bella asked me interrupting me, her eyes wide with fear.

I should have known better, that Bella would get worried more the safety of the baby than hers. That's what she had been doing during the last month. There was nothing else more important at this moment, than making sure he would be born safe and sound.

"For both of you." I corrected what I had said. "But, I was thinking it would be best for you if we get the baby out before the due date we think he's going to be born. For what I've read in his mind, I'm sure he's ready to be born. If we wait for him to get out of you on his own, he could hurt you more than necessary. And if we get him out before, he won't, and the venom… will work better."

Rosalie and Bella turned to see each other. Hesitation on their eyes.

"Are you sure it won't be dangerous for the baby?" Bella asked me.

_Yes, Edward. It's all we care about…_

Of course it was all you care about Rosalie, I thought. I could see again how, not even in this moment, she cared a little about Bella's life.

I wondered what would happen when Bella woke up and came to demand her baby. What Rosalie would do.

"I'm sure. Bella, it would be like caesarean. The baby would be fine. And you, would be much better."

The two of them became silent. I could listen to how Rosalie was struggling to accept what I had said, she knew I was right. They both would be fine.

Bella turned to see me, and stretched her hand to mine, I took it. She turned to see Rosalie and asked. "What do you think, Rose? Should we do it?"

"When should we do it?"

"Tomorrow. As soon as Carlisle comes back. It would only be two days earlier."

Rosalie was nodding absently, her eyes came back to Bella for a second, and smiled at her. "I think it could work that way, Bella."

Bella squeezed my hand, and our eyes met. She looking into them for a moment, searching for some sign that I was telling her some lie, but found none.

She sighed relieved, and smiled before answering. "Then, go ahead. Let's do it that way."

"Really? Are you sure?"

She smiled at me again. "I trust you."

And I could see, that blind and complete trust she had in me. I had seen it so many times in her eyes, and most of the times it had scared me the way she trusted in me when I couldn't trust in myself the same way. Not I was begging her to trust in me, and it seemed, nothing had changed, in spite of everything that we had been through recently.

I leaned toward her and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you, Bella. Everything will be fine. I promise."

"I know."

I smiled at Bella, and my fingers ran over her cheek, those blushed. And I smiled more hugely.

"Alice?"

Bella narrowed her eyes and Alice was by my side before any of them could ask.

_What's up?_

"Could you call Carlisle? I need to speak with him."

"Sure." _Where's your cell phone?_

I had no idea. I might have to get a new one. I didn't care about that much at this moment.

Alice dialed the number. Carlisle answered after the first ring.

"Carlisle? Yes, this is Alice."

_Everything fine, Alice?_

"Yes. Edward wants to speak with you."

_Put him on._

Alice stretched her hand and I took the cell phone. I put it on my ear and started talking. I could see my face from two different angles.

"Carlisle, it's Edward."

"What's wrong, son? What do you want to talk about?"

"Alice told me you're coming back tomorrow."

"We are. I didn't get as much blood as I wanted."

At the same, I listened to Bella talking. "Rose, could you bring me a cup of blood? I'm thirsty." It was surprising how easy Bella said the word blood.

"I'll be right back."

Rosalie got out of the room, and Alice stayed by her side.

"Well, about that. It may not be necessary to have more."

Carlisle was speechless for a few seconds. I felt the eyes of Alice and Bella on me, but I didn't turn to see them.

_Why not, Edward?_ Alice was wondering.

"What makes you think so, Edward?"

"There's something you don't know. I can…"

"Yes?"

"I can listen to the baby's thoughts."

"What? Really?"

I smiled a little when I listened to his tone. He would have loved to be here to see such event. I could imagine his reactions, specially Esme's. She would have been beyond happy, almost as Bella had been. To see her son, finally stop suffering and starting to love his son.

"Yes, Carlisle. He's unbelievably… intelligent. He's trying to avoid rough movements, that could hurt Bella. So…"

"That's unbelievable. You just said it."

He wasn't listening to my point, what I was trying to tell him.

Rosalie came back to the room in that moment. She smiled at Bella before giving her the cup.

"I know. But…"

I could listen to Bella taking sips of the liquid. It was amazing how the anxiety was obvious, as if she were starving. More than usual.

"But what, Edward?"

"I don't think we should wait for the baby to be ready to be born by his own will. I think it's very dangerous, for Bella especially."

"Mmm… do you think we should…?"

"Get him out before his due date. Yes."

"I don't know, son. Perhaps that would be dangerous too."

"No, it wouldn't. It's the best way. If we get him out before it's time, the kid would do no harm to Bella. There would be no danger of him… hurting her too much for the venom to work."

"The kid, son? It really changed you way of seeing him by listening to his thoughts." Carlisle sounded surprised.

"It did. That's not the point, Carlisle. What do you think?"

"I'm not sure. Seems like a good idea, but… we'll talk about it tomorrow calmly, Edward. As soon as we get there we'll decide it. What do Rosalie and Bella think about this?"

"They agreed. That's why I called you. I don't think we're going to need more blood, if the kid would be out of her tomorrow."

"Well, maybe Bella won't need it, but the baby may prefer human blood…"

I hadn't thought on that, maybe he was right. Well…

"Yes, okay. Then you're back tomorrow, and we'll talk about this."

"Of course. We'll try to get back sooner. See you soon, son."

"Sure." Then I hang up and handed the phone back to Alice. "Thanks, Alice."

"You're welcome. What did Carlisle say?"

I sighed. "We'll talk about it tomorrow, when he's back."

Bella stopped drinking the liquid, and spoke to me. "He isn't agreed?"

I turned to see her. "It's not that. He's not sure if it's the best. Don't worry Bella. I'll convince him."

Bella nodded, and then a different glow crossed her eyes. "What is it, Bella?"

She smiled hugely at me before answering. "If the baby is born before time, not in an emergency situation as we've been considering…"

I could see, a little, where this was leading. "Yes?"

"I could see him, couldn't I? I could even hold him in my arms. Before the venom knocked me out for three days. Right?"

I smiled. Of course that would be what she cared about. And… being honest, it wasn't a bad idea. How long would it take Bella to be able to be near our child when she was a vampire? She would be a newborn, and first she would have to learn to control her strength, her thirst…

"You could, sure."

"So… no matter if Carlisle is or isn't agreed. We're having our baby tomorrow, Edward." She told me, biting her lower lip with her teeth.

"Are you sure?"

"Very, yes."

"Good. We'll do it."

I sat by her side on the floor, and took her hand. We were that way for several minutes, before Alice interrupted me in her mind.

_Well, I think I'll go to Jasper. How long would it take that wolf to come back?_ Alice wondered, while she walked away upstairs.

"Wait up, Alice." I told her, and she stopped before getting to the stairs.

She had noticed the change in my voice tone. _What's up?_

She came back to the room, and stopped in front of me. Her eyes lowered, and then narrowed.

"I was thinking, well… if." I shook my head. "Bella and I had decided that even if Carlisle won't agree with us, tomorrow we'll bring the baby to the world." I turned to see Bella, making sure that she still thought that way.

"That's right, Alice." She nodded in my direction, and gave me an encouraging smile.

"Alright. So…?" Alice asked.

_Tell me, Edward. I hate not knowing what you'll ask. It's a waste of time._

I smiled at her, and continued. "I think Jasper and you could set the necessary equipment for the labor in Carlisle's office once and for all. Be ready before he gets here."

Alice stayed quiet for two seconds. _Are you sure? Wouldn't it be better to wait for Carlisle…?_

"No, Alice. The sooner the better. Please."

Her lips twisted, but nodded. "Like you said. I'll tell Jasper and we'll get to work."

Then, the empty cup made a noise while Bella sipped again. Interrupting our exchange. She had finished the liquid in less than, what? Three minutes?

Her cheeks blushed. "Rose?"

"Still thirsty?" Rosalie asked her, surprised.

Bella nodded, and the color of her cheeks got deeper. Rosalie took the cup, and disappeared again to the second floor.

Alice was still there. And I saw the next thing she would ask me, I didn't want her to do it aloud, and knowing me, she didn't. _Do you have your venom ready, Edward? I think having listened to you saying you're injecting it straight to her heart. It's a good idea._

I turned to see Bella and she was distracted, playing with her stomach. Her hands caressing it over and over again, a smile on her lips.

I took the distraction as advantage to speak, it would be low the tone of my voice, so Bella wouldn't have the chance of hearing any of my words. "It's ready." I told her. Bella didn't even react or turn to see where the sound had come from. It hadn't even been sound to her ears.

_Good. Then I'll go to Jasper. It'll be ready in a few minutes._

"Take your time, Alice." I smiled at her a bit. "Distract your mind."

Alice stuck her tongue at me, and then nodded. _It is a good distraction. I take it._

Then she walked out of the room, and Bella returned her attention to my face. Bella and I just looked at each other's eyes. But I knew it was a matter of time before her curiosity won the battle.

"So… can you hear him?"

I shook my head while smiling at her. It would seem that I still knew her expressions well. Would it be the same when she were a vampire as me?

"Yes." I told her, nodding.

"What's he saying?" she asked, her tone anxious.

"The same thing, Bella. It's just a baby. He loves you, and loves to hear your voice."

"And yours." She commented, remembering what I had told her earlier.

We stayed silent for another moment, and Rosalie came back.

"We're going to be parents, Edward. Can you believe it?"

I thought about it for a few seconds. "No, well yes. It's just that… I never imagined that it'd be in this situation. But of course, it's all because I'm with you."

"It's all because we're together. That's how it's supposed to be. See? I was right all this time."

I grinned at her. Happy that her words were true.

"That's what it seems. But I thought it was me who was always right."

I told her, remembering her words from years ago. It seemed an eternity ago.

Bella stayed lost in her thoughts, remembering maybe that day. "Remember?" I asked.

"I remember every day that I've spent with you. I will have to work hard to not forget anything." She told me, pensive.

"I'll help you, love."

"I'll remind you in a few days." She told me, I smiled her favorite smile. I didn't even think about it, it was natural, seeing her happy made me happy. She looked at me, and stretched one of her hands toward me.

She touched my cheek, and told me. "I missed that smile." Her voice was serious.

Rosalie came back by then, and again, without saying a word she gave the cup to Bella and left to sit in front of the TV. Bella started drinking sips absently.

When she was done, she turned to see Rosalie again. Did she really want more? How much had she drunk, a galloon? Bella blushed, and hesitated for a moment in speaking to Rosalie. "Rose?"

"Yes, Bella?" Rosalie told her before turning to her.

"Could you take me?" she asked her, biting her lower lip.

Oh, right. She wanted to go to the bathroom, she'd drunk too much liquid to stay quiet. She was just a human after all, I had to remember it. Rosalie nodded, and rose. I got to the side so I would give Rosalie some space to take Bella in her arms and took her to the bathroom.

"We'll be right back." Rosalie said before taking Bella.

"Sure."

They disappeared behind the stairs through the hall.

Bella wasn't sick anymore, not the way she'd been. It seemed that she wasn't suffering anymore, the baby was trying to not hurt her. It was unbelievable that he could understand us to certain point, and that he knew that by moving that way, he hurt her.

Did he really understand what it was the pain?

It would be like I'd seen, that babies felt and understood the feelings from the mothers. If they were happy, the baby too; if they suffered, the baby too. Would it be that way?

It didn't matter which was the reason. The baby loved her, and he was fighting with all his might to not move in such a way that Bella would suffer over that. It was difficult, yes. He had grown too much, Bella had already said it, he didn't have enough space, and he understood.

It was incredible. What other word could I use?

I listened to Rosalie coming back, Bella in her arms. A smile spread across her face when she saw me. She was full of love, her eyes shined and her cheeks blushed.

"We're back." She told me. At first I thought that she meant her and Rosalie, but then she patted her stomach, and I smiled at her.

"All good?" I asked.

"Perfect. I can't ask for more perfection in my life. I have you, I have our baby growing inside of me healthy, his parents who love him. What else would I want?"

I laughed at her answer. A simple question as that had gotten out of her mouth such a wide answer as it always did, it always amazed me.

"Sleep, love." Bella smiled, and let her eyes closed.

I sighed with relief when I listened to her even breathing, and her heartbeats. I wondered if our baby would have the most beautiful human part that her mother could give her, the beats of a heart.

Alice was right, the peace was felt everywhere. Especially when I saw in my Bella's face, asleep, and maybe dreaming, not nightmares, she hadn't complained about anything in these weeks. Though she hadn't told me anything either. They might be about the baby and us, most surely. Of course, days back I would've felt like launching myself down a cliff if I listened to some nice story about us. A few days ago, I would've been sure that that thing hated Bella and that was why he hurt her so much, I would've believed that Bella wasn't going to survive this experience to see the baby.

Now I didn't believe it.

Minutes passed. I didn't know exactly how long did Jacob have of having gone away, rather ran away was more appropriate, from this house. I didn't have any idea of how longer would it take him to come back. Healing even if it was for the moment, a little his wounds, the pain he had felt. Surely, when he were back, his hatred toward me would be bigger. I had to admit, that the most logic, would it be for me to hate him too, but I didn't, he was a good boy. I had hated him, or tried to hate him when he had been decided on taking Bella away from my side, but… if that saved her, how could I hate him?

At least I knew, that he, in comparison to much other ones, did love her.

That I reminded myself again, I had to speak with him about Leah. I wasn't going to allow, for any reason that Bella felt again so bad, so upset because of that… lady. It had hurt me as much as it had hurt her, seeing her that way, crying for Jacob Black again.

For me, when I had never protested to her anything, when I would never do. Bella didn't deserve that I protested for something. She had been beyond good, more than generous by accepting loving me, and giving her soul and almost her life for me. How could I protest? When in first place, it had been my fault that Bella would've fallen in love with him. When leaving, forced her to look for haven in other arms. I would never forgive myself for having gone. I had caused more pain that I thought. Not just because of my departure, but for the consequences that would bring.

The clouds started to hide, and I wondered if Jacob would come back this day. Then I listened to his thoughts getting closer with velocity, and a few miles away, I listened to the sound of the engine and the tires sliding through the road that brought to our house.

It was time to talk to him. I had to take advantage that Bella was asleep, it was the only moment in which I would dare to leave her with Rosalie. There were more things, more than just talking about Leah's issue. There was the fact that we would have to change Bella for sure, and the treaty would be broken if we did. Jacob had the authority to give us the permission.

"Rosalie."

She turned to see me, and her eyes were curious. _What is it?_

"Jacob's back." _Agh, he had to._ "I'm going to talk to him. I'll be right back. Could you take care of Bella?"

"That's my job." She told me, but there was a slight smile on her face.

"Thanks you, Rose."

_Sure._

_Wait, Edward!_ Alice yelled at me, coming downstairs.

"Let's go." She told me, knowing that it was urgent to me to be outside waiting for Jacob. The two of us walked out of the house, and stopped down the porch stairs.

"What is it, Alice?"

_Oh, nothing._ She told me, while grinning hugely.

I narrowed my eyes. "What did you stop me for?"

"Oh, yes. The emergency room's ready. Carlisle's office, of course. Is it okay?"

"Of course, Alice. Is there everything we need?"

Alice pretended to think about it for a second. _Of course there is._

"Fine. Thank you, Alice."

She smiled again. She looked my anxiety, and sighed. _Yes, go now._

"Thanks."

Alice disappeared inside the house and I walked towards the garage to wait for him to get here. It didn't take him long.

So many things had happened in such a short time, and he was only conscious of a part. I still couldn't believe that I had been able to listen to what the baby thinks, to know what he feels, to see that he loves his mother, that he likes my voice, her voice.

Everything was spinning in my head, like a whirlwind that was barely allowing me to stand straight, and with a clear head.

Bella was simply amazing.

Never, I would ever had dreamed that I was going to fall in love, that I was going to know the love, that I was going to feel it this way. I had seen it with Carlisle and Esme, with Rosalie and Emmett, with Alice and Jasper, I could see how they loved each other, and how that love only grew every day instead of, as it commonly happened with humans, decreased.

How was it possible that some soulless and heartless monsters were capable of love and being loved with more intensity, with more humanity than humans themselves, who still kept their hearts alive? How?

But Bella, was another case. She could still love me, even when I wasn't human, when I didn't keep the human warmth that she had, when I had lost my humanity decades ago, she loved me and didn't care what I was. Her love had grown with the passing time instead of being over. She had been able of loving two people at the same time, though I hated it, she had been able to know other love and chose me anyway. Showing me that her love for me had never being over, and never would.

How could I fail her?

Jacob was getting closer, interrupting my thoughts. I wondered how should I start.

After a moment of thinking about it, I decided that I would start by warning him about Leah. Next time, nor Rosalie nor me would have any compassion toward her if her motives were coming to yell at Bella. I wouldn't allow that Bella cried again and she were hurt. She had had enough with this so dangerous pregnancy. Enough she had had with sharing her life with me.

When Jacob got into the garage and saw me waiting for him, he got surprised. I hadn't gone away from Bella at all in the last days. But this situation had required it, though I didn't like being apart from her. Even if it was for a few minutes.

So when he shut the engine off, I hurried.

"A few things, Jacob."

Jacob took a big intake of breath, and held it for a minute. Then, in an almost desperate slow way, he got out of the car.

"Thanks for the loan." His voice was bitter. _Apparently, it would have to be repaid._ It didn't have anything to do with that. "What do you want now?"

"Firstly… I know how averse you are to using your authority with your pack, but…"

"What?" Jacob blinked. He hadn't imagined that I was going to begin this way. Of course not. He had no idea what was coming.

"If you can't or won't control Leah, then I-"

"Leah? What happened?" Jacob interrupted me.

"She came up to see why you'd left so abruptly. I tried to explain. I suppose it might not have come out right."

"What did she do?" Jacob asked.

"She phased to her human form and-" Jacob interrupted me again. But now his thoughts wee too much shocked.

"Really?"

_I couldn't process that. Leah letting her guard down right in the mouth of the enemy's lair?_

"She wanted to… speak to Bella." I explained to Jacob the reason Leah had come. Speak was not the right description, but…

"To Bella?"

The scene came back to my mind, and all the frustration I had felt when I hadn't been able to stop Leah, came out of my mouth. "I won't let Bella be upset like that again. I don't care how justified Leah thinks she is! I didn't hurt her-of course I wouldn't-but I'll throw her out of the house if it happens again. I'll launch her right across the river-"

"Hold on. What did she say?" _none of this was making any sense._

I took a big breath of air. Controlling myself. I had to remind myself that I hadn't told him what Leah had done. So I calmed myself down and started again. "Leah was unnecessarily harsh. I'm not going to pretend that I understand why Bella is unable to let go of you, but I do know that she does not behave this way to hurt you. She suffers a great deal over the pain she's inflicting on you, and on me, by asking you to stay. What Leah said was uncalled for. Bella's been crying-"

"Wait-Leah was yelling at Bella about me?" Jacob interrupted me.

I nodded once, before going on. "You were quite vehemently championed."

_Whoa._ Jacob thought. "I didn't ask her to do that."

"I know."

Jacob rolled his eyes. _Of course he knew. He knew everything._

I wish I knew everything, I wanted to say. I wish I knew at least what would happen with Bella.

_But that was really something about Leah. Who would have believed it? Leah walking into the bloodsuckers' place human to complain about how I was being treated._

Yes, who would've believed it. But if it happened again…

"I can't promise to control Leah," I told him. "I won't do that. But I'll talk to her, okay? And I don't think there'll be a repeat. Leah's not one to hold back, so she probably got it all off her chest today."

That was an understatement. "I would say so."

"Anyway, I'll talk to Bella about it, too. She doesn't need to feel bad. This one's on me."

"I already told her that."

"Of course you did. Is she okay?"

"She is sleeping now. Rose is with her."

_So the psycho was "Rose" now. He'd completely crossed over to the dark side now._

Ignoring what he was thinking, I continued. "She's… better in some ways. Aside from Leah's tirade and the resulting guilt."

_Better. Because Edward was hearing the monster and everything was lovey-dovey now. Fantastic._

Yes, sure. It had to do but it wasn't everything. "It's a bit more than that. Now that I can make out the child's thoughts, it's apparent that he or she has remarkably developed mental facilities. He can understand us, to an extent."

His moth fell open, out of surprise. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. He seems to have a vague sense of what hurts her now. He's trying to avoid that, as much as possible. He… loves her. Already."

Jacob kept staring at me for a moment. His eyes were almost out of their sockets, he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

_Underneath that disbelief, I could see right away that this was the critical factor. This was what had changed Edward-that the monster had convinced him of this love. He couldn't hate what loved Bella. It was probably why he couldn't hate me, either. There was a big difference, though. I wasn't killing her._

There wasn't a point in getting to explain Jacob anything of what had happened. He had been right about most of the things. All of that I had considered myself already. "The progress, I believe, is more than we'd judged. When Carlisle returns-"

"They're not back?" Jacob took the word from me. Remembering a moment in which he'd seen Sam and Jared watching the road.

_Would they get curious as to what was going on?_

"Alice and Jasper are. Carlisle sent all the blood he was able to acquire, but it wasn't as much as he was hoping for-Bella will use up this supply in another day the way her appetite has grown. Carlisle stayed to try another source. I don't think that's necessary now, but he wants to be covered for any eventuality."

"Why isn't it necessary? If she needs more?"

Here was coming the hard part. I knew it would hurt Jacob. I watched intently his reaction. "I'm trying to persuade Carlisle to deliver the baby as soon as he is back."

"What?"

"The child seems to be attempting to avoid rough movements, but it's difficult. He's become too big. It's madness to wait, when he's clearly developed beyond what Carlisle had guessed. Bella's too fragile to delay."

Jacob couldn't speak for a moment. Too surprised by what I was saying. It was too much for him. He had counted on my hatred for the baby, for the monster as he still considered him. And now, at this moment, he was realizing that he had also counted on the four days we had believed Bella still had until the baby were ready to be born.

_The endless ocean of grief that waited stretched out before me._

I waited until he was capable of speaking or thinking clearly. He had to assimilate what I had told him to I could continue with everything else. It wouldn't be easy, I saw it now.

"You think she's gonna make it." Jacob murmured.

"Yes. That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

Again, Jacob couldn't speak for a moment. So I continued.

"Yes. Waiting, as we have been, for the child to be ready, that was insanely dangerous.

At any moment it could have been too late. But if we're proactive about this, if we act quickly, I see no reason why it should not go well. Knowing the child's mind is unbelievably helpful. Thankfully, Bella and Rose agree with me. Now that I've convinced them it's safe for the child if we proceed, there's nothing to keep this from working."

"When will Carlisle be back?"

"By noon tomorrow." I answered to Jacob.

I saw how his knees trembled, failing. He had to hold himself to the car to stand on his feet. My hands stretched toward him out of reflex. Knowing that he wouldn't like feeling the coldness of my skin on him, nor my support would actually help him, I let them drop back.

"I'm sorry. I am truly sorry for the pain this causes you, Jacob. Though you hate me, I must admit that I don't feel the same about you. I think of you as a… a brother in many ways. A comrade in arms, at the very least. I regret your suffering more than you realize. But Bella is going to survive-" my voice sounded almost violent with conviction. It was the truth, and I would make sure of that. "and I know that's what really matters to you."

_He was probably right. It was hard to tell. My head was spinning._

"So I hate to do this now, while you're already dealing with too much, but, clearly, there is little time. I have to ask you for something-to beg, if I must."

"I don't have anything left." Jacob said, he sounded as if he had a lump on his throat.

I raised my hand again, hoping to be able to give him some kind of relief, something that told him he wasn't alone, but… I wasn't the right one to do it, so I let my hand dropped back again.

"I know how much you have given. But this is something you do have, and only you. I'm asking this of the true Alpha, Jacob. I'm asking this of Ephraim's heir."

Jacob couldn't answer, so I continued. Plus, I wasn't finished.

"I want your permission to deviate from what we agreed to in our treaty with Ephraim. I want you to grant us an exception. I want your permission to save her life. You know I'll do it anyway, but I don't want to break faith with you if there is any way to avoid it. We never intended to go back on our word, and we don't do it lightly now. I want your understanding, Jacob, because you know exactly why we do this. I want the alliance between our families to survive when this is over."

_Sam. It's Sam you want._

Even when he was conscious, that just because he was the Alpha he had been able to abandon Sam's pack to save Bella, he still denied his power.

"No. Sam's authority is assumed. It belongs to you. You'll never take it from him, but no one can rightfully agree to what I'm asking except for you."

_It's not my decision._

"It is, Jacob, and you know it. Your word on this will condemn us or absolve us. Only you can give this to me."

_I can't think. I don't know._

"We don't have much time." My head turned toward the house, indicating him what I meant.

_No, there was no time. My few days had become a few hours._

_I don't know. Let me think. Just give me a minute here, okay?_

"Yes."

Instead of staying where he was, considering what I had just asked him, he started walking toward the house, so I followed him.

It hadn't come out as I had planned, Jacob was too confused to having made a decision at that moment, and the time was running out. Deeply, I knew Jacob would agree, because though Bella wouldn't be alive in a sense, her heart wouldn't beat anymore, her cheeks wouldn't blush anymore, but she would still exist in the same world where we both were, and that was what he wanted after all. It was worse not seeing her ever again, than changing to be one of us.

Now I understood, too.

How many times had I tried to convince Bella that I could be with her while she was still human, that when she died I would follow somehow?

But now, that she was about to leave my side forever. I simply couldn't allow it, I couldn't accept that I wouldn't see her ever again. That it was the most likely thing, her soul would still be clean, mine had been stained long ago as to have allowed the entry to paradise by her side.

That was our hell. Bella had said that so many times. Now I believed it. I believed it with all my being.

In my selfishness, I rather had Bella by my side. After all, that was what she wanted, what I wanted. At the end, I always consented to her demands, and again she was winning the match, I had agreed to change her. Not only because she had married to me as we had agreed to, but because I wanted to have her by my side forever. I wanted our child to have his mother forever.

And so it would be. I would take care of that. Jacob would agree, even if I had to beg on my knees.

She wasn't going to leave us. I would fight for her heart to keep beating until the last moment, until the moment in which it stopped beating to join me, not to get away from me for the rest of eternity. She would have me by her side, in the good time and in the bad time. Even when in our lives the bad time were more of a part of our lives than the good time. I didn't care, if at the end I would get to have her with me. It was everything I had always wanted. We were so close to that, I could almost feel it.

Then I listened to Seth coming closer. Jacob didn't notice until he listened to the movement between the leafs that surrounded the house, and a soft whine. Then Seth came out of the plants and got into the garden, walking toward us.

"Hey, kid." Jacob said hi.

Seth dropped his head a bit, and Jacob gave him a soft pat on the shoulder.

_Jake, you okay?_ Seth was wondering, remembering what he had seen in Leah's mind, and the way in which he had gone away.

Jacob knew what Seth meant, and told him. "S'all cool." Jacob lied, though it was the truth, it wasn't for him. "I'll tell you about it later. Sorry to take off on you like that."

Seth smiled at him. _Sure, no problem._

"Hey, tell your sister to back off now, okay? Enough."

Seth nodded now.

Then Jacob pushed him away on his shoulder to indicate him to go. "Go back to work. I'll spell you in a bit."

Seth leaned over Jacob, pushing him back, and then disappeared through the trees again.

"He has one of the purest, sincerest, kindest minds I've ever heard. You're lucky to have his thoughts to share."

"I know that." Jacob murmured.

_She's drunk so much…_ Rosalie thought.

Just when I saw Bella in her mind, Jacob and I listened to her take a sip of the liquid through the straw. Our heads turned toward the house in a tough way, and then I disappeared inside of the house. Bella was awake.

I walked into the house in a hurry, to find Bella drinking more blood. She wasn't asleep as I had left her. I shouldn't have left her, but I had to…

_Don't worry, Edward. She's just awoken._ Rosalie was thinking.

"Bella, love, I thought you were sleeping. I'm sorry, I wouldn't have left." I told her, caressing her cheek.

"Don't worry. I just got so thirsty-it woke me up. It's a good think Carlisle is bringing more. This kid is going to need it when he gets out of me." Bella told me.

In that she was right. She was always right, that I'd said. "True. That's a good point." I told her while I sat by her side on the floor.

_Where's Jacob?_ Alice was wondering, annoyed that he didn't hurry.

Her lips pursed into a beautiful smile, before she got talking again. Her eyes had turned speculative.

"I wonder if he'll want something else." Bella mused.

"I guess we'll find out." I answered her.

A smile spread across her face. Happy to hear me speaking that way. It thrilled her seeing that I had finally accepted our child.

Then Jacob walked through the door.

"Finally." Alice almost sang.

When she heard Alice, Bella's eyes turned toward Jacob immediately. A smile spread across her face for a second before it disappeared, and her lips pursed. She was trying to not cry. I knew that expression from the last hours.

_I wanted to punch Leah right in her stupid mouth._

"Hey, Bells. How ya doing?" Jacob asked, too quickly. It was obvious that he was trying to make Bella to feel better. Or at least, not to cry.

Bella noticed it. "I'm fine."

"Big day today, huh? Lots of new stuff." If he would've said anything else, he would've passed inconspicuous his try at letting pass this as something unimportant.

"You don't have to do that, Jacob."

"Don't know what you're talking about." He told her, while he walked toward the arm of the couch and sit there where Bella had her head.

Bella looked at him reproaching, for what he was trying to do. What was she getting upset about, when it was her who was always trying to make everyone else fine?

"I'm so s-" Bella started, but Jacob stopped her, he put her thumb and another of his fingers over her mouth to halt her from speaking.

Still, Bella was trying to take his hand off her so she could speak. She wasn't giving up. Jacob had to know better.

"Jake." Bella murmured, without surrendering.

Jacob only shook his head. "You can talk when you're not being stupid."

"Fine. I won't say it."

Did he believe her?

Jacob took his hand off, and as I thought, as soon as she was free to speak, she did it. "Sorry!" she said, and then she grinned at him.

Jacob rolled his eyes, and smiled back at her.

I could listen to Rosalie's, and Alice's thoughts. Rosalie, of course, was upset about Bella's attitude, and Alice, amused. What else?

_Tomorrow, she'd be someone else._ Jacob thought while he saw into her eyes. And I knew, that he was close to surrendering, to give the green light to my petition. _But hopefully alive, and that was what counted, right? She'd look at me with the same eyes, sort of. Smile with the same lips, almost. She'd still know me better than anyone who didn't have full access to the inside of my head._

He was so close, that I felt like I wasn't going to hold myself together, and wait for him to say it himself, but to demand to him to give me his answer right that moment, but I held back. Jacob had to think about it, there was still time. He was right, Bella would be the same. That I had told her so many times. She would still be my Bella, the woman I had fallen in love with, the one I wasn't capable of listening to what was in her head, the same one that loved me with the same intensity, or similar. She would be the same angel that she was at this moment, she might not be able to fly, but she would be my angel, my Bella.

_Tomorrow, she'd be my enemy. Or she'd be my ally. And, apparently, that distinction was up to me._

Jacob sighed.

I knew here was coming his answer. It seemed to be good.

_Fine. __Go ahead. Save her. As Ephraim's heir, you have my permission, my word, that this will not violate the treaty. The others will just have to blame me. You were right-they can't deny that it's my right to agree to this._

Jacob thought, and he gave me what I needed, everything that I was missing so I could saver her life without major consequences, nothing that caused a war between our families, to keep her by my side, by our side.

In that moment, I knew in truth, that I would never be able to thank him enough for what he was doing. Because it was beyond being something good to me or to Bella, it was something bad, the worst thing that could've ever happened to him, something he had fought against to not happen. I would be thankful the rest of my life. How not be?

"Thank you." I whispered to Jacob. It was impossible to miss the tone with which my word sounded. It was impossible to not have that tone. I was even more thankful to him. So when Rosalie and Alice heard me their heads turned toward me, curious.

They were wondering if that thank you had been to the request I had done to Jacob. I didn't have time to answer them.

"So," Bella told Jacob, her voice sounded forced, trying to sound normal. "How was your day?"

"Great. Went for a drive. Hung out in the park."

"Sounds nice." Bella said.

"Sure, sure."

Then her face made a grimace. Rosalie knew it. "Rose?"

"Again?" Rosalie asked while she chuckled.

"I think I've drunk two gallons in the last hours." Bella said, it sounded like an explanation.

I got up off the floor to give some room to Rosalie so she'd take Bella, and Jacob got up too. I would've never expected the next thing.

"Can I walk? My legs are so stiff."

"Are you sure?" I asked her. Worried that she'd fall down. If she did without having a huge stomach to prevent her from seeing where she walked to…

But it would be good for her to stretch. It made me happy to see that she was feeling better this day, better than I'd seen her in the last weeks. Almost… I almost could say that it was a normal pregnancy. But we were all conscious that it wasn't. It had its good things and bad things. Bella only had to go through this experience for a few weeks, with more pain than she should've, but I knew she was happy and that, now, did make me happy.

"Rose'll catch if I trip over my feet. Which could happen pretty easily, since I can't see them." Bella commented.

_Carefully, Bella._ Rosalie was thinking.

Then, she put her feet on the floor and let her stand up, without releasing her from her shoulders, taking care that she weren't going to fall to the front.

Bella stretched her arms, and shuddered a bit. I shuddered inside of me. But I knew that it felt good, she was human and not moving made her feel uncomfortable. Just like those days in Biology class, when I still had the strict rule of not touching her.

"That feels good." Bella said, sighing. "Ugh, but I'm huge."

_She really was. She was her own continent._ Jacob thought. She was, the truth. But she looked beautiful, that beauty that only a pregnant woman could brag about.

"One more day." Bella said, while she patted softly her stomach.

But something changed…

Before I could recognize it, it distracted me the fact that Jacob was again feeling that pain by listening to Bella saying that. _I could hide it for one more day, right?_

"All righty, then. Whoops-oh, no!"

Then, the cup Bella had left on the couch wavered and fell on the couch, the red liquid staining the white fabric that covered the couch.

Rosalie, Alice and I stretched our hands at the same time to take the cup that had fallen and spilled the blood on the couch. It was a reflex reaction, the mess was done already. Not that we cared about it, either… then, I saw Bella leaning toward the couch as if she wanted to help.

I could listen to the sound that I had hated so much inside of Bella, the baby was… getting out? No, I couldn't be possible. The sound was muffled, it wasn't the same sound of her bones breaking, it was the skin that surrounded him, trying to break it, to get rid of her so he could get out. He was ready to be born. Three days earlier.

The nightmare continued. As if the evil fate were playing us the cruelest of jokes. He wasn't satisfies, he wanted to inflict even more pain in me and Bella.

Would he never get tired?

"Oh!" Bella gasped when she felt the pain inside of her body.

_It can't be. Edward?_ Rosalie wondered.

It hadn't even been a half second. Bella was already falling down to the ground, her face blank, as if she were unconscious. Rosalie caught her before she fell into the floor and could hurt herself, but my hands flew toward her in the same instant.

No, let this be a nightmare, please.

_What do we do?_

_God! He's being born!_

"Bella?" I spoke, and when I didn't listen to her answering or reacting to my words. Panic took power of me for a second.

This could not be happening. Carlisle, two days. How was it possible?

At this moment, Bella came back to consciousness, only to yell a shout of pain. It was worse than that. It was pure agony what was heard in her voice. She was suffering as she hadn't yet. The baby was tearing her apart from inside to get out of her inside. He was fighting to break through everything that prevented him to get out. I could listen to him perfectly.

Her scream turned off, to give space to a gurgle. All the time her body was doubling and arching brutally in Rosalie's arms, -we were frozen- then, the blood Bella had in her inside came out of her mouth violently.

The only thing I knew at this moment, was that Bella should be suffering so much, that the time has arrived, much before what we'd foreseen.

And lastly, that every thousandth of second that passed, ran against her life. We had to act, and now.

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**I hope you'd enjoyed it. I really enjoyed writing it.**


	19. Chapter 18, EMERGENCY

**OMG! I can't believe I had not uploaded the 18th chapter, I just realized that now.**

**I'm so sorry, my mistake. But luckily for you, I'll give you two chapters. So sorry again. I really thought it had been uploaded, I don't know what happened.**

**And sorry for the delay, this wasn't my fault, but Fanfiction's, something'd been wrong with them, so I was unable to upload the chapters before. But we're back, eh!**

**But I hope you enjoy it, both of the chapters.**

**Stephenie Meyer owns all Twilight stuff.**

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Chapter 18. EMERGENCY

This could not be happening. Not now.

While I looked at Bella's body-bathed in blood, twisting and stretching from inside of her body, from her stomach, where we could listen to the sound that the baby made by trying to break through the place where he had been living these weeks-I was looking in Rosalie's mind something that told that she couldn't against temptation, that so much blood was making her lose her control. Though she was as good as Carlisle… I didn't see anything.

Not even myself. It was as if the red liquid over her, were just that, a red liquid that was spiller over her body. The smell of blood, so sweet and irresistible before to me, was nothing now. It was as if I had lost all sense of smell when it was about her. I found myself for a moment too shocked to understand what was happening. But, I had learned to control my thirst for her blood, I hadn't even strove to make it, it had come alone. Knowing she had died, as I had believed then, had made that all the reactions of my body to change if Bella were in danger, there was nothing in the world that would allow her to die, much less for the monstrous thirsted I felt for her.

When I got out of my momentous shock, it hadn't even been half a second, Rosalie was still waiting for me to say something, and when I didn't, she decided to act. Rosalie took the unconscious Bella's body completely. She was just begging for her to be fine, that it wasn't too late.

_Edward, move!_ She yelled at me in her mind, while screaming out loud.

"It's time, Alice. Edward. We're got to hurry."

We both then sprinted toward the second floor. I thanked again that I had almost forced Alice to set up the emergency room this day, and not…

I could listen, in the deepest part of my mind, how Jacob and Alice followed us.

Rosalie put Bella on the table. Everything was prepared, such as Alice had told me just a few minutes ago. Could it be possible that just a few minutes ago we were getting ready to welcome the baby tomorrow?

I went straight to the place where I had seen Alice put the morphine, I took it quickly and put it on the syringe. Everything happened in less than half a second. We had to hurry up. Every second counted, every second that passed her life was getting more out of my hands.

"Morphine!" I yelled at Rosalie, reminding her that it was the first thing she had to do. Bella couldn't suffer anymore than what she had already.

_Sure, morphine. Hurry, Edward._

"Alice-get Carlisle on the phone!" Rosalie asked her.

_Immediately._ Alice thought. _Everything'll be fine, Edward._

I listened to her, but I wasn't sure that I was actually conscious of being listening to her words. It was as if I was in another dimension and was only listening to her words like an echo in the deepest part of my mind. My priority was Bella.

Vaguely, I listened to Jacob coming into the room, and noticing that it was like an emergency ward set up in the middle of library. Which exactly was.

_How many times had I imagined her naked? Now I couldn't look. I was afraid to have these memories in my head._

Very deeply, I felt myself growling inside of me when hearing him, but I didn't have time to react. I heard the baby's thoughts, and fear drowned me.

"What's happening, Edward?" Rosalie asked, terrified.

_Air, air… _I listened from the inside of Bella. The baby… "He's suffocating!"

Would it be possible that I lost my reason for existing, not two, in the same moment. No, I had to fight, I had to save them both. The two of them, Bella couldn't live without our baby, I couldn't live knowing that I let him die, knowing that Bella would suffer immensely.

"The placenta must have detached!"

Those words seemed to have brought Bella back to reality. I saw how her body and her breathing changed, giving space to consciousness. I didn't want to imagine what she was feeling, but at the same time I wished I could've known to relieve her pain anyway. She was the most precious angel I had ever known, and she was suffering like I had no idea.

"Get him OUT! He can't BREATHE! Do it NOW!" Bella demanded screaming. The blood vessels from her eyes had exploded, red spots coming out after her scream. Never, I had never felt this way, it wasn't just the threat of losing me, but also who was now her angel.

Bella had understood what that meant, that was what had brought her back. The horrible fear of losing her baby. She had fought so much for him… I couldn't let him die. Neither one of them both.

"The morphine-" I started saying, but Bella cut me off.

"NO! NOW-!" Bella tried to say, but another gush of blood came out of her mouth and stopped her.

Panic shot through my veins while I saw how Bella was choking with the blood, I immediately got her up so she could breathe.

_Quickly, there's no time to lose._ Rosalie was thinking desperately.

But at the same time, she didn't know what to do. She was waiting for Alice to come back with Carlisle already on the phone, ready to give her the instruction I wasn't giving her. I was too preoccupied for Bella to drift out of reality, that she were going to die trying, as I much had feared since we knew about her pregnancy, since I knew that she was keeping the baby…

I could listen to cruel fate laughing at me behind my back. Making fun of me, and rejoicing by looking at the suffering of both of us.

Then Alice walked into the room, distracting me from my thoughts. _Done, Carlisle's ready to give you the instructions, Rosalie. I don't know how she does it…_ Alice was thinking, scared. She put the earpiece on her ear so Rosalie would listen to Carlisle.

_Okay. Sorry, Edward. I'm sorry I can't help, it's too much for me._

For a fifth of a second, I wondered how was Jasper, if he was under control. Alice seemed to have understood what was going through my mind, when I saw her in that short time.

_I'll be with Jasper. We're controlled, Edward. Help Bella._

I was still holding Bella. I wasn't sure if she could breathe, I couldn't listen to the air coming in and out of her body. It seemed as if her lungs were obstructed, and I couldn't help, the blood wouldn't let her breathe.

"Carlisle, what do I do? The morphine's in her body, we need to get the bay of before he…" I tried not to listen but it was impossible not listen to Rosalie.

I could see how Bella's body looked. It was almost like in my worst nightmares. Under the source of the light she looked so white as if she were already… no, she wasn't dead, I wasn't allowing it. The skin of her stomach looked black and purple because of the bruises that were still visible, red spots started to infiltrate through where the baby was surely beginning to get to his final destiny.

Rosalie noticed it, too. I couldn't even listen to what Carlisle was telling her in her mind. It was as if her mind had shut, as if my ear would've stopped working.

I couldn't think of anything else than Bella and her life slipping away from my hands.

"The scalpel." Rosalie took it. "Done."

Her hand raised in the air, getting ready to cut the skin of her stomach.

"Let the morphine spread!" I screamed when I listened to what she was doing.

_Are you insane?_ "There's no time. He's dying!" Rosalie hissed.

Even at that moment, the only thing in her mind, the only thing she was focused on was in saving, was the baby, she didn't care about Bella's life, not as much as to try hard on saving both of them instead of just the reason of her presence.

I saw how her hand came down to Bella's stomach, the scalpel ripping open her skin and giving space toward her inside. In that moment the blood started coming out in bubbles, how much blood would she lose? I saw Bella bending over, and I knew at that moment that she could feel every movement of her body, every pain and punch she received. She was aware that something had gone through to her stomach, something had attacked what she so much protected, her hands got to her stomach, she couldn't even scream or something, she was still choking, and I was trying to keep her breathing.

_Aah! Blood… blood… and it smells…_ Rosalie was thinking.

It couldn't be happening this. What more cruel jokes or rather punishments would impose on me fate?

Her eyes changed, losing her careful concentration, her lips opening to let see her teeth, ready to perforate her body, to take the blood that was gushing out without stopping of her body. Her black eyes giving proof that the thirst was attacking her mind and her control.

_I can't… I want._

"No, Rose!" I growled when I saw how she was preparing herself to finish off with Bella. I felt a huge frustration when I couldn't stop what was coming. If I let go of Bella she would choked without being able to breathe, and if I didn't let go of her Rosalie would drink all her blood until leaving her, what? dead? No!

Alice heard, and came back into the house immediately. Then, before we could even react, I saw Jacob launching over the table toward Rosalie. Conscious that my hands were busy trying to keep Bella straight so she could keep breathing, he launched himself toward her to prevent her from doing something that she would surely regret, I would take care of that.

When he hit her body, he pushed her away to the wall, I listened to the scalpel pierced through the skin of his arm, but Jacob ignored it. His right hand over her mouth and nose, trying to block her respiratory muscle. I was more than grateful for his presence.

_Out, fresh air. Please!_ Rosalie begged, without exerting any force against Jacob. Letting him get her out of there so we could save them.

Jacob turned her over with the hand he still had on her mouth to the exit. Then he kicked her out. Rosalie sprinted out and stopped at the door frame, the sound of the wall being broken into pieces by the Rosalie's caused when falling over it, and then the earpiece breaking.

_Save him, Edward. Save him!_ Rosalie was begging me.

Alice came to her side at that moment, and taking her from her throat, she pulled her toward the hall.

_It's okay, Edward. I'll take care of her. Don't worry. Do what you must do._ Alice was telling me in her mind, while she tried to get Rosalie away.

I listened to Jacob ripping the scalpel off his arm and then fell to the floor.

Time was running out. "Alice, get her out of here! Take her to Jasper and keep her there! Jacob, I need!" I screamed, desperate for the time running against us.

_Right away._ Alice told me.

Without turning to see if Alice had already gone or what had happened, Jacob turned his look toward the table where Bella was laid. Her skin was turning blue for the lack of oxygen. I needed to hurry, I needed to get the baby so I would start working of her. To save her life before it was too late.

"CPR?" I told Jacob, my voice sounding like a growl.

"Yes!" Jacob answered immediately.

We had to start, I had to start doing what I should. Bella was lifeless over the table, her body still and with no movement at all. Her legs were still curved from the moment when Rosalie had used the scalpel over her stomach. I had known that she had felt it by seeing how she moved.

Jacob didn't move, her eyes on my face. Looking for any sign that told him that I was about to fail just as Rosalie had. But that wasn't going to happen, I wasn't going to fail to Bella.

_There was nothing but single-minded ferocity._

"Get her breathing! I've got to get him out before-"

And then, what I most feared. The sound of her bones breaking before my eyes made echo in my mind. I listened to how Jacob got frozen just as I did. I waited for Bella to scream out of pain, the fracture had been the biggest and the loudest I had heard from her. Her legs fall down over the table, lifeless.

This was horrible! Her wounds were getting worse, and it wasn't over yet.

It should've been… "Her spine." I felt my voice drowning in horror.

"Get it out of her!" Jacob growled, while tossing to me the scalpel he had gotten out of his arm. "She won't feel anything now!"

His words were terrifying. _She won't feel anything now._ The words repeated in my mind.

Could it be possible that it was too late? No, of course not! I told myself.

I saw Jacob leaning into Bella, into her mouth to start forcing the air into her. I listened to a gush of air getting into her throat. Her body expanded with the air that had gone inside of her, and then I knew and saw from Jacob that there was nothing that prevented her from breathing.

_Her lips tasted like blood._ I listened in the deepest part of my mind to Jacob.

The scalpel in my hand, I quickly checked what Rosalie had done, I check that she would've done it okay, that she hadn't caused any damage that…

_Keep it going. You promised. Keep your heart going._ Jacob was thinking in such a fierce way, when he heard that her heart was beating again in an irregular way.

I felt a pang of panic when I listened to her heart beating that way. She had to stay strong so she would resist the venom running through her veins, trying to heal her wounds until she were ready for the change.

In my mind, his words made echo in that same way. I almost felt in his place, forcing her heart to keep working normally, to make it strong, I almost took my own heart out of me and put it her heart's place, if only my heart beat… if hers stopped beating to leave me, I would not be able to keep existing, it didn't make any sense this life or whatever it was without her by my side.

With those thoughts in my mind, I took the scalpel and took toward her stomach, cutting the skin in such a way that I could get the baby out of her.

Again, her blood, once a torture to me, was nothing now. Just the same red liquid that now covered every part of her body. For the first time, I didn't feel fear or terror of being so close to her blood, it didn't call to me as it did before, the only thing I wanted, the only I was thinking was in saving her.

In saving them.

The blood started spilling out of her stomach again, the drops falling down the floor. And they were nothing, nothing compared to the terror I felt, to believe that it was already too late.

I leaned into the inside of her stomach. The membrane that was surrounding the baby was as hard as our skin, as Bella had known from the beginning, as Carlisle had supposed when he couldn't get an ultrasound, as I had known when I listened to every bump that came from her inside, it was the same sound that I listened when something hit our skin…

More blood was starting to spilled out of her stomach, the drops seeping through around the membrane. It was the baby trying to get out. My teeth sank into the hard skin that surrounded him, the blood spilled over my lips, my mouth swimming in it, but I didn't feel anything, not even the venom pooling in my mouth, there was no monster to beat down, there was nothing in my mind, only the brutal wish to save Bella, to save her baby, our baby.

I was so close to him, I could almost feel him.

My teeth started to rip away parts of the membrane, trying to open space toward its inside, toward the baby. The sound resembling two big rocks being destroyed to pieces. At the back of my mind, I listened to Jacob comparing the sound with the new it had been made for the newborns when they were being destroyed. I could see my head pushed inside of Bella when Jacob dared to take a quick look at me.

I heard a shudder, and then another gush of air being forced into Bella. Then she came back to herself, she coughed when the air got into her lungs, from Jacob I could see that her eyes were blinking, coming back to reality, to pain.

"You stay with me now, Bella! Do you hear? Stay! You're not leaving me. Keep your heart beating!" Jacob yelled at her when he saw that Bella was conscious again.

Then I saw her. It wasn't the boy that she so much dreamed she was, that was inside of her loving her. It was a perfect girl. The most beautiful creature my eyes had ever seen. The first thing I saw, was her hair, though soaked up in blood, I could see the color of her curls, it was just like mine. Then her eyes, I held back a gasp when I put my eyes on hers, they were the exact color of her mother's, a beautiful chocolate brown, her skin was white and warm, even warmer than Bella's, her eyes were round big with fear and confusion, her expression didn't look like a newborn's, her breathing was agitated, and her heart was beating frenziedly. ¡She had a heartbeat!"

Thousands of emotions ran inside of me. I felt ecstatic just by looking that the baby that was in my hands, wasn't the monster of my imagination, but the product of the love that Bella and I had for each other.

How could I ever thought, that my nature could be so much stronger than the human beauty of her mother? I had been wrong the entire time, Bella was right. Always. Happiness and love, love as I never thought I would feel for someone else that wasn't Bella, ran through my dead heart. I almost felt it beating again.

"Renesmee," I whispered. And the beautiful creature in my arms smiled when she listened to the sound of my voice. Other memories of my voice ran in her mind. She knew me.

Other emotions ran through me. I couldn't help the wave of happiness that drowned me.

In that moment, I listened to the slight sound of air moving by my side, I turned to see that Bella was trying to raise her arms, searching. And I remembered why I couldn't be fully happy yet, first I had to have Bella by my side, that she had her daughter in her arms to love her for eternity. "Let me…" her voice was barely a sigh. "Give her to me."

And like the fool that would never learn to refuse, I walked over to her with Renesmee half cuddled up in my arms. Her thoughts were a tumult, she didn't understand what was happening, she didn't know her surroundings, but despite there were still small gasps, and fear in her eyes, deeply, I could listen to a security while she was in my arms. It was incredible that sensation.

I thought over a second the possibility of ignoring her request, but it was impossible to me. I had never been able to refuse one of her wished, and through my mind passed the idea that Bella would be, when she woke up, a neophyte.

How long would it pass for Bella to be able to be in perfect control and being able to have her daughter in her arms? How long would it take before Bella could enjoy of this beautiful creation of her body? How long would it take before she were able to be the mother of our little daughter?

Without thinking anymore, I stopped beside Jacob. The arms of Bella were trying to stand sufficiently high to hold her.

Then, Renesmee was in her arms. I held her with my hands, making it look for Bella like she was holding her. Her eyes opened, intent on the face of Renesmee. There was a expression full of love, of adoration as I had never seen before in her eyes. Everything she had fought for was finally in her arms.

I felt that another current of happiness ran through me by seeing them together. Finally.

"Renes… mee. So… beautiful." Bella said, her voice sounded more like a croon.

_Pretty voice… I love her._ Renesmee thought, and a small smile formed in her lips.

Renesmee smiled when she recognized the voice that came from Bella. I could see Bella from Renesmee's eyes. Jacob hadn't even turned. Then, while she smiled at her, her head leaned down toward Bella, and her mouth opened biting Bella. Panic shot through me in that moment, because Bella gasped when she felt the pain.

I took Renesmee from Bella's arms, that fell down lifeless to each of her sided. Blood was spilling down her mouth, and a mark of the bite was left over her left breast.

"No, Renesmee." I told her, my voice sounded a little authoritarian. Maybe trying to make her understand she should not do that. Her eyes focused on my face and the tone she'd heard. It was amazing to see how she understood what I was telling her. Her face got serious.

Before I could say something else, before Renesmee could thinking something else, I listened to Bella's heart failing, and then stopped. Complete silence from her body filled my mind, and panic at the same time. Her heart, shut off. The sound of her heart lifeless lasted for half a beat, and relieved ran through my body.

I listened to Jacob trying to put it back to beat, his hands over her chest making compressions.

_One. Two. Three. Four._ I listened to Jacob thinking while he kept doing the compressions. Then the sound of air going into her throat.

I had to act immediately, before she… no, Bella was going to live. I banished that thought from my mind, my worst nightmare. But Renesmee was still in my arms, without someone who could hold her and take care of her while I took care of her mom.

The time was running out, her heart was too weak, as I had feared.

More air getting into her throat, Jacob was still trying to keep her heart beating. I couldn't see Bella's face, or anything else. His eyes were wet and his sight blurry.

"What are you waiting for?" Jacob said, his voice choked breathless. His hands were over her heart.

_One. Two. Three. Four._

"Take the baby." I told him, without any one else around me, he was my only choice. It wasn't a good one. But…

I listened to the sound of footsteps walking closer to the room. Rosalie.

"Throw it out the window." Jacob answered, just like I had thought.

_One. Two. Three. Four._

"Give her to me." Rosalie told me from the door, her face was ashamed remembering the scene from minutes ago.

But I couldn't trust Renesmee on being in Rosalie's arms, not while she were thirsty. My daughter had a heartbeat, blood ran through her veins… I growled when I listened to what she asked me, and I heard Jacob doing the same with me.

_One. Two. Three. Four._

Would she be safe with her? I didn't have much time to consider the option, Bella's heart was getting weaker with each passing second, her heartbeats could be listened more faraway each time.

"I've got it under control," Rosalie told me, thinking in her thirst. "Give me the baby, Edward. I'll take care of her until Bella…"

_Save her. Now._ Rosalie demanded to me in her mind. In her mind she showed me the moment in which Alice had gotten her out of the house forcefully. Jasper was waiting for her in the garden, by his side were two stags and an elk on the ground.

_Go, Rose. Feed yourself if you want to be near the baby again._ Alice had begged her.

Rosalie, without thinking much, did it.

So when I turned so see her and growl at her, I saw that her eyes were no longer black, but golden. Her thirst was under control.

Without thinking twice about it, I walked to her in less than a second, and put Renesmee in her arms. Her eyes widened, and wet seemed to emanate from them.

"Don't worry, Renesmee. I'll be with you soon." I gave her a quick kiss on her cheek, and Rosalie and Renesmee were gone through the hall, while I rushed back to the place where Alice had put all the syringes. I took the biggest one, where my venom was already done for me to inject in into Bella's heart.

I came back to where Bella was fighting for her life, Jacob was still doing compressions and forcing the air into her throat.

There was no time for that, not anymore.

"Move your hands, Jacob."

Jacob turned to see me, his hands still over her heart, without stopping. He looked at syringe that I had in my hands, and confusion swept across his thoughts.

I just wanted him to not make any question, to move… "What's that?" Jacob asked.

There was no time to answer his doubts. Bella's heart was failing more every time, her heartbeats were listened more faraway, weaker every passing second that the clock ticked by. I was too worried to see or to listen to what Jacob was thinking. I didn't care about anything at all, but to save Bella.

Bella had to survive. She couldn't leave us.

I pushed his hand out of my path, and in the same second, the syringe was getting through her chest to her heart.

It felt so right and wrong, all at the same time, to listen to how the venom was getting through her heart. How everything I had fought against to not happen, was happening so fast, one day all was happiness and the way we had always wished, and the next one was all suffering and darkness, a nightmare. In that instant, the venom would be killing the purest Bella had, for what I had fought for so much to save, her soul, her life.

But I had been a fool to believe that letting her die would be the right thing, though it were because of old age. I knew that I would never reach the place where she'd go, that her death would separate us forever even if I did make it to die and leave this empty existence I would have without Bella by my side. I knew that I would never have entrance to the heaven I was forcing her to leave in such a violent way, to keep her by my side in this endless hell.

Maybe, I remotely considered, we both would be happy after all. Maybe our love, and now the beautiful creature that we had had in our arms, would bond us together and give us a happiness we never imagined we were going to experiment.

"My venom," I answered to Jacob after a second.

Then, as the venom was getting through into her heart, a shock shook her heart. I was only begging inside of me for everything to go smoothly. That Bella were going to be fine at the end of this horrible experience.

"Keep it moving," I told Jacob.

Again, his words resonated in my head like an echo, something that my ear picked up but my brain refused to process.

_His voice was ice, was dead. Fierce and unthinking. Like he was a machine._

I listened to Jacob started to push down her heart so it would keep beating. While he was working on her heart, I moved to her body, the venom in her heart would only make the change to last less time, but if her wounds didn't heal at the same time, it would take longer.

I sank my teeth into the skin of her throat, the venom running free in my tongue into her inside. It was as if worst nightmare were coming true. How many times had I had fought against my wish of sinking my teeth into her throat? Now her blood tasted like nothing to me, I didn't feel it in my mouth, it was as if I wasn't aware that I had it so close to me. I didn't care anymore. I was working as fast as I could, when I was finished with her throat, I took her wrists, all the venom that was possible. Maybe, in the back of my mind I considered, it was the first time that my body was producing so much venom in such a short time.

I used my teeth over her skin in as many spot as it was possible for me, forcing the venom to make its job, to make the change. I didn't have any idea if Bella was suffering, but I didn't stop to think about it, I couldn't lose my concentration, I knew that I would have time to suffer by her side…

Then I moved toward her stomach, where the wounds were still open, there was not even blood coming out of her body, she was almost empty. My tongue started to force more venom than before over her wounds, and where the venom touched her skin this healed immediately, letting the venom inside of her, it worried me her spine. How many damage did she suffer? I had no idea, there was no time to check her, the time was my worst enemy, it had always been.

I listened to Jacob blew more air into her throat, and then I heard him.

_But there was nothing there. Just the lifeless rise of her chest in response._

What? Was it him? Was he really he Bella had trusted in to be here until the end, until her heart stopped beating, that would be the moment in which he would give up?

_But there was nothing there, just me, just him._

He was so wrong if he believed that Bella would leave this world, leaving me here. He didn't know what he was saying, what he believed was completely wrong. I didn't accept it.

Her heart was still beating, it was the weakest sound I had listened so far, but hopes didn't cease, now I wasn't going to let them leave my side. No, not now. And he was? He was simply giving up without having fought as should?

_Working over a corpse._

His words, so decided, so sure that they were saying sent a pang of pain to my already dead heart. But I wasn't going to allow that his pessimism, not, his lies to make me lose my concentration, that made me let her go of me. I knew that Bella would be fighting by my side to save her life, that was either giving up, that she wouldn't allow death to take her away from my side, from Renesmee.

_Because that's all that was left from the girl we both loved. This broken, bled-out, mangled corpse. We couldn't put Bella together again._

Liar! I wanted to yell at him, but my hands, my mouth were busy, trying to save the one he was already giving up on before time. I knew that he wouldn't mind that Bella died, it might be easier for him, that Bella wasn't here anymore, he may wished it. I wanted to launch at him and mangle him with my own hands, to finished his life for being the coward and traitor he was.

And he said to love Bella?

_I knew it was too late. I knew she was dead. I knew it for sure because the pull was gone. I didn't feel__ any reason to be here beside her. She wasn't here anymore. So this body had no more draw for me. The senseless need to be near her had vanished._

I couldn't believe what I listening to, it was as if my senses were alert again. I could listen to every one of his words, every one of his hypocrite tears, that fake pain he said to feel for her was no more than that, a lie.

How could I ever consider, that this dog would be able to protect Bella better than me?

_Or maybe moved was the better word. It seemed like I felt the pull from the opposite direction now.__ From down the stairs, out the door. The longing to get away from here and never, ever come back._

I simply couldn't keep listening to him. "Go, then." My hands pushed away his, getting the apart from Bella, if they weren't going to do anything for her, I didn't care anymore, Bella didn't need him, she had me forever, I wasn't letting her die.

I listened to how his fingers broke with the beat from my hands, I was glad. I wished with all my might that he suffered so much more than one could take, I wished that he was never able to live in peace, and I swore to me that if Bella lived, I would leave him suffering and believing that Bella was dead. He didn't have to know that the reason of my existence had survived, that she was fine despite of what believed this moment. I wished with all my might to not have him in front of me again, it would be his end.

I put my hands over the place where her heart was fighting to keep beating, to make the venom to get into it and start the change. I wasn't going to separate from her until she make it, even if I have to make compressions forever, I had all the time of the world.

"She's not dead. She's going to be fine." My words came out of me like a growl. And though I was completely sure of what I was saying, at the same time I was begging that the truth of those words didn't escape from me and I lost the will like that… no, I wouldn't betray her, I wouldn't leave her. I would rather die in this precise moment that let her die.

Her heart seemed to be dead, it seemed that I was forcing it to beat, but it wasn't true. It was just weak, but someway it was going to make it through the change. It was going to stand it. It had to.

She had to make it, we had to get out of this walking like she had said, like she had assured to me. I was sure, deeply I knew that Bella wouldn't stop fighting either, not even in the end, Bella would give everything she had to get out of this, to be with me, with Renesmee.

Jacob turned around toward the door, I was barely conscious of my surroundings. The only thing I wanted was that dog to leave and never come back.

Something, in the very back of my mind told me that what I had seen in his mind was wrong. But I couldn't pinpoint what it was. The words came back into my mind without command which was strange for me, and a part of my brain tried to process them.

_I knew it was too late. I knew she was dead. I knew it for sure because the pull was gone. I didn't feel__ any reason to be here beside her. She wasn't here anymore. So this body had no more draw for me. The senseless need to be near her had vanished._

_Or maybe moved was the better word. It seemed like I felt the pull from the opposite direction now.__ From down the stairs, out the door. The longing to get away from here and never, ever come back._

I didn't understand why his words had come to mind without trying. I pushed the thought aside into the further corner of my mind, I would have time to think about them later. In that moment, Bella needed my full focus on her. Nothing had more importance if I didn't have her with me, nothing, not even Renesmee.

Because if Bella died, I would die with her. I wouldn't be able to keep living in this world if she wasn't with me, if she didn't stay with me in this life.

My hands moved faster than Jacob's, or any other human would've been able, trying to encourage her heart to keep beating, to not stop. Please, Bella! I was begging in my inside. I didn't stop at any second, but at certain point, the doubt filled me completely without having given it permission to do so.

"Bella, please? Don't leave me." I begged her, I felt how my eyes were prickling with the tears that I would never be able to shed.

"You can't leave me. You promised." I wasn't sure if my words were a combination of a scream or a growl of a desperation cry. Only once had this tone of voice came out of me, that day passed through my mind. Two years ago, before I myself had accepted my love for Bella, before I had decided to stay in Forks, Alice knew.

All around me had disappeared. There was nothing I saw that wasn't Bella, there was nothing that I listened at that weren't my hands pushing down her chest to get her heart beating again, nothing that wasn't the sound of her heartbeats filling the room again, filling me.

"Come on, Bella! Don't leave me! Not now!" my voice was barely a whisper, agony was slowly filing me from inside out. "We're so close. Don't give up." I still begged.

Only that I could ask, that her heart would keep beating.

It was almost mean to force her heart to keep beating so it would later stop beating forever. If it was stopped already, why force it? The answer was simple, her eyes had to open again, her mouth had to move again, her voice had to get out of her lips…

How could this have happened?

I could listen to cruel faith laughing at myself again. Laughing and enjoying from my misery, from my pain, rejoicing seeing the way Bella had ended after all. How she had looked for death, how I had helped her instead of having saved her before it was too much too late, how everything we had been fighting for until this point had been in vain, she was leaving me forever, and I couldn't find the wait to help it.

No, I wasn't giving up. Bella counted on me. I wasn't going to abandon her, I wasn't going to betray her. She would have me with her until the end of the time, because Bella wasn't going to die. Never.

Why did it always have to happen to us the worst? Was it my punishment for having allowed that this beautiful angel to join a monster?

It had to be a punishment for me. For not having been strong and having let her go, for her to make a normal life with someone else's that couldn't kill her just by loving her, having pushed her away from me in any way before I had realized that I loved her, never having come back.

But that was all past now, something I would never be able to change, for as much as I wished I could.

This had to be a punishment for me only, Bella couldn't be involved. It was me who had sin after sin, penance after penance.

Of course, I thought. If I was still in this life, there had to be some kind of punishment in this world before I got to hell, to true hell. Though in those moments, I would take it a thousand times before keep suffering for what I couldn't seem to stop doing to Bella.

Still, I couldn't find the way to let her go. I knew that I should, that Bella would go straight to heaven, to the paradise that with me she would never know, but I couldn't.

"I'm begging you, Bella. Don't leave me here."

My hands didn't stop, they wouldn't.

Even if I had to receive a bigger punishment in hell for having gotten Bella out of heaven, I would take while she didn't hate me.

But she wasn't in heaven yet, her heart wasn't dead, her soul either. Not yet.

Bella had always been right. I could remember her words in my mind, over and over again, without stopping spinning in my head.

"_You can't force me to go to a place where you won't be. That's my definition of hell."_

Her words repeated in my mind. How right was she? I had been a fool when I believed that Bella would be better off away from me. We both had been tied to each other from the very first moment we had seen each other, and we hadn't even been conscious of it. We had never had an option for real.

Then, the image of Renesmee appeared in my mind. Her little face smiling at me when she saw me the first time, recognizing my voice when I said her name for the first time. So much perfection in someone so small, that it was almost impossible to believe-to me-that she was really my daughter, our daughter. That Bella had actually been able to make me even happier.

I would have never dreamed that this would've been possible for us. That Bella wouldn't have to quit her humanity-in a sense-that she would have the same as if she stayed human.

She was a mother, she had the most beautiful daughter in the world, and she had done it with me.

After all, I hadn't taken her future away. She had to make it for Renesmee, our little representation.

"Bella, love? Don't leave us, please. Renesmee and I want you here. We're waiting for you, make your heart beat again. I'm begging you. Think of our daughter, Bella. Renesmee loves you!" I begged with all the pain I was feeling inside of me.

If this didn't work, I had no idea how to get Bella to listen to me, to keep herself alive until she was ready to open her eyes again, to see for herself what she had so much fought for against everyone, against me.

I was still begging for her to listen to me, when suddenly her heart-without knowing how it happened, as if my words had really gotten to her ears, or maybe her heart-started beating again…

Relief washed through my veins.

My hands stopped when I listened to the sound I had so much yearned for in this moment. Bella wasn't dead, I never doubted it, but it was a relief knowing that she was still with me. That it would be like that forever. Because she was going to live after this. She was going to exist.

"Bella!" my voice sounded relieved-just how I felt. "You didn't give up. Keep your heart beating. I'll see you soon, and Renesmee." I promised to her.

It was so amazing as wonderful to know that my angel, after all, would still be with me.

I exhaled a big gush of air. I leaned down slowly toward her ear, knowing that she couldn't hear me, but without being able to help myself, and whispered, "I love you, Bella."

Her face, didn't blush at the feeling of the cold breath of my mouth, touching her warm skin, not even when she heard my words. I remembered that the morphine must have her completely asleep, and I begged for it to work and she didn't suffer. She had gone through much already…

My mind, totally absorbed in her face, my ear completely focused on her breathing, in the beats of her heart, didn't let me listen to anything else. Nor I wanted to. The only thing I wanted was to be with her, only with her. I didn't care about anything else. I knew that Renesmee would be fine with Rosalie, Alice and Jasper.

Suddenly, her breathing became faster, and though her face didn't tell me anything, I knew that the venom was starting to run through her veins. But the morphine, I told myself. I might be just exaggerating; it was the history of my life. Everything that was about Bella always made me worry when I shouldn't, or worry beyond what I should when I didn't like something entirely. _What matters is that she's alive,_ I reminded myself.

I slowly came closer to her face, and I caressed her cheek, her forehead, her lips. Until that moment, when looked over her face again, I hadn't noticed that my hands were still red with her blood. I hadn't even remembered.

Again, her blood didn't burn my throat as it once did. It was amazing how easily it was to ignore its floral aroma.

With not enthusiasm, and mostly, without wanting to, I moved from her side to wash my hands and my face, to take the rest of blood from my skin. I did quickly, and took some towels that were there to dry myself. Then, taking one of the towels, I wetted it with water and went back to Bella to clean her up.

Very carefully, more than I normally forced myself to exert with Bella, I passed the wet towel over her wounds, cleaning all trace of blood that were over her body.

Her legs, her stomach and chest, her arms, her hands, her face. I cleaned it all slowly, taking more time than the usual. Bella must still be in so much pain, it hadn't been more than three minutes since her heart had beaten back again.

The thought put a lump on my throat, and left me breathless.

I came back to clean my hands, and throw everything I had used into a bin of aluminum that Alice had put there, I took out a lighter from a drawer and before lit it, I throw a little bit of alcohol and set it on fire. I took a bottle with water to clean her hair, and got back to her.

When she was ready, I threw away the water.

I went, and took a white sheet, and put her over her body. I pulled a chair by her side and sat in front of her, her hand between both of mine.

Her human warm and fragility was still felt in her. Though I could feel how the blood that ran through her veins got more viscous than before. The change was happening. This was the moment I had feared to happen since two years ago, since Alice had foreseen that this would happen. Still, I couldn't feel anything else than a huge fear that Bella wouldn't wake.

But again, I convinced myself that that wasn't happening. Three days were the max I believed Bella was going to go through this.

How would I survive three days with Bella suffering by my side? What would I do when she woke up and the venom still didn't finish changing her?

I would suffer with her; I had no doubt of that. I wouldn't move from her side, not even for a second.

Alice walked into the room, I hadn't listened to her until the door opened in front of her. Her eyes looked over my figure with my back on her and then to Bella. A light sigh of exasperation left her mouth.

"Edward?" Alice asked, her voice full of worry.

I didn't turn to see her, and that worried her more. In an instant she were by my side, her hand on my shoulder.

_She'll be fine, Edward. I know._

"Can you see it?" I asked her, my voice was emotionless.

_No, I'm sorry. I want to think she'll be fine, Edward. She's got to._

I shook my head. Her words weren't helping me at all.

"Carlisle?"

"He shouldn't delay. As soon as the phone call was cut by the… incident with Rose, Carlisle called to the house."

I nodded. "Renesmee?"

Alice smiled for a moment, and her arm rested on my back. "She's perfect."

_You know something?_ Alice asked me in her mind. I couldn't identify very good to what she wanted to say. My mind was still spinning around, it was as if there was no more space for anything else that wasn't Bella.

"What is it?"

Alice snapped her head toward the door instead of answering. My eyes didn't move from Bella's face, but I was alert for the unexpected movement of Alice.

_Carlisle's here, Edward. I'll be right back._ Alice told me, and with that she left the room.

I could lightly listen to Carlisle's, and Esme's and Emmett's thoughts. It was a combination of emotion and worry. They knew that Renesmee was born already and the Bella were surely unconscious because of the venom.

Thinking about Renesmee, brought her to my mind too. It was as if half of my being were with Bella and the other half were with our daughter.

I forced myself to listen to everyone else, to catch Renesmee's thoughts, but Carlisle was coming upstairs, and my mind got distracted. At least I was sure that Rosalie would take well care of Renesmee. I, for the moment, would take care of Bella.

That was my job, it had always been.

Carlisle came into the room, the sound of the door being opened didn't get into my mind. Alice had left it open. Only the sounds of footsteps getting closer indicated me that he was inside.

_Edward, son? Are you alright?_

"I don't think that's the right answer, Carlisle." I answered to his thoughts.

"Right. I'm sorry, son. How is Bella?" he asked me, his tone, as Alice's had been, was saturated with worry and anxiety.

He was conscious that he hadn't been here to support me with Bella and the birth of the baby. That was filling him with guilt.

"Don't worry, Carlisle. It's not your fault at all." I turned to see him slowly, I didn't want to take my eyes off Bella's face, but I knew it was necessary. "This was as unexpected for you as it was for us. I never expected… I never thought… that the baby were going to be born before time. Not this way, at least." I told him, remembering that tomorrow would be the day we had chosen for her birth.

"Still, Edward. How is she?"

"Her spine was broken, well… you know. She lost a lot of blood. She was about, too close to…" my voice broke, remembering the moment in which I almost lost her.

Carlisle stood in front of me then, his look on my face and then Bella's.

_Hasn't she said anything? Hasn't she moved?_

"No. the morphine."

_Of course, I can smell it yet._

"She must be in so much pain…" it could be listened in my voice the pain that that caused me.

Carlisle leaned over the table to put one of his hands on my shoulder. "We can't know that, Edward. We might have found the way for her to suffer less. The morphine might have worked as we hoped." He told me, trying to calm me down.

Nothing could.

"I'm going to check her now."

I just nodded, I didn't want to imagine what he would see. Just thinking on that put a lump on my throat, preventing me from calm down.

His hands and eyes ran through her arms, her chest checking there were no more fractures and if there were, to see if they were healing. At least there were no more broken ribs.

_There are no broken bones, only her spine… the wounds of her stomach are completely closed. Her heart's beating vitally._

Carlisle turned to see me, and a small smile appeared on his face. "She'll be fine, Edward. You did a good job, son."

"I'm not so sure. Bella hasn't moved… at all, Carlisle."

_Of course not._ Carlisle thought. "It's too much the morphine that's in her system, Edward. She'll be conscious as soon as the morphine's gone. Don't worry."

I snorted lightly. I wished with all my might, I wished and begged for it to be as Carlisle said, as he insisted it was. It was difficult not to worry, and I knew that even if I tried I wasn't going to make it. I wasn't even going to try, I deserved to suffer along with her.

Carlisle became silent for a moment.

"So…" Carlisle started, his voice silenced a bit. "Renesmee?"

My head snapped toward him, without being completely aware of the movement. Just listening to her name made me react.

"How is she? I haven't seen her since… Rosalie took her."

Carlisle smiled when he heard my worry. "She's perfect, son. She's just like you, you know?"

Without being able to help it, my lips twisted in what seemed a smile. I hadn't seen anything in her that reminded myself, only her hair color.

"I don't think so," I shook my head, but it seemed more incredulity, a little of embarrassment for his words.

"Of course she is, Edward. Her face's exactly like yours. She reminds of Elizabeth."

"My mother?"

Carlisle smiled again, and images of my mother passed through his mind.

"That's right. I perfectly remember her face. And you are just like her. So it's obvious that your daughter would look like her grandmother."

Her grandmother. Of one thing I was sure, my mother would be full of joy if she were here, to see that her son had become a father, and she a grandmother. I knew she would be very proud of me, and Bella, of course. She would have loved her as a daughter. Just like Esme loved her.

Thinking about my mother put a lump on my throat. Just like her grandmother. Just like me.

_Do you want Esme to bring Renesmee, Edward?_

I thought it over for a second. "I'm not sure that's… convenient." I told him, looking at Bella. Though I wished badly to have her again in my arms. I couldn't enjoy his adorable company while Bella were suffering.

"Sure." He put a hand on my shoulder, and said. "I'll be downstairs. I'll be back in a few hour to see how Bella's doing, son."

I nodded. "Thank you, Carlisle."

I listened to him getting out of the room, and staying the living room. I could listen to them all… even Jacob? Jacob was still here? What the hell was that dog still doing in my house?

Alice walked back into the room in that moment, interrupting my thoughts.

"What the hell is Jacob still doing here?" I growled at Alice when she came into the room.

_Easy, Edward._ Alice asked me.

"What is he doing here?"

"I think he'll explain to you… later."

My forehead frowned, and then I noticed that Alice had something in her hand. It was a black bag, and though I couldn't see what it was, Alice followed my eyes and her mind showed me what was inside. Clothing for Bella.

"What did you pick, Alice? Your ideas aren't always of Bella's liking, you know." I told her, trying to sound nice. And not making it with success.

Alice made a face when she heard the tone I used on her.

"That doesn't matter. Maybe her sense of fashion will be improved when she wakes up. Besides, you should thank me."

"Why would you say that?"

Alice smiled smugly. "Because it's blue."

Mmm, right. Alice knew perfectly well how much I like the blue color on Bella. I wondered if that color would still have the same effect when her skin didn't have that pink color under her white skin. There would be no blood under skin to give her that beautiful effect I loved so much.

"She'll look gorgeous, Edward. Of that I will take care." She told me, with a smile. "Besides, I don't she'll like the idea of waking up in front of everyone with just a sheet covering her."

She was right. It wasn't something very nice. "Fine."

She smiled at me again before getting the clothes out. It was short blue dress as she had told me, and then, just imagining what Bella would think when she awoke and saw what she was wearing almost made me smile, stilettos. I knew Bella well as to know that she wouldn't like what Alice had chosen. And just this way, with Bella asleep, could she get away with her idea. That was maybe why she's chosen that outfit.

Alice walked to Bella, and just when she was going to move her, panic shot through my veins… her wounds.

"Watch her spine, Alice! Please." In my voice it was obvious the panic I had felt, she turned to see me and in her eyes were comprehension.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful"

"Thank you." I told her, relieved.

Before starting to work on Bella, she returned her look to me again, and looked over the clothes I was wearing. I knew exactly what she was going to tell me.

"In the other bag?"

Alice grinned hugely at me. "Yes." She told me before putting the clothes she brought on Bella.

I stood without wanting, I didn't want to get away from Bella for not even an inch. At least Alice had her in her vision and I could see her from her mind.

I walked to the end of the room where Alice had left the other bag she brought. She had put a pair of clean jeans and a shirt. Considering the clothes I was wearing were completely useless, full of blood.

I changed quickly. Alice wasn't even finished with Bella.

"Leave it there. I'll take everything to get rid of it." Alice told me when I hesitated as to know what to do with the clothes I had taken off.

"Thanks again, Alice."

"Your welcome. That's what I'm here for." She told me carefree.

When she was done putting clothes on Bella, she looked radiant. It might be because her skin still had the fragility only a human could have, that beautiful color pink that she only had. She was beautiful, I felt as if she left me breathless, if I were actually breathing.

Even if I passed the eternity with her, even if she repeated to me every day of forever that she loved me, that she only wanted to be with me, even if an angel came down from heaven and gave me the answer, I would never understand how I had earned the right to have such a beautiful angel with me, and that that angel wanted to be with me.

Alice became silent for a moment, I could feel her look on my face, and I saw it from her mind. Suddenly, her thoughts changed of direction.

"You know? I would never, ever have imagined that this would happen. I would never have been able to foresee this would happen. That Bella and you… would be parents. It's incredible."

I smiled a bit at her words. "It's a miracle, Edward."

It was something more than a miracle. "No. It's Bella. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't be here waiting for her to open her eyes to meet her daughter."

"Did you hold her already, Edward? She's adorable."

I turned to see and smiled. "For just a moment. I had to… attend Bella." My forehead frowned, remembering that moment, my voice almost sounded as if I were choking.

Alice shook her head slowly. "You're right. Only Bella could've brought you this happiness. Give you a child." She rested her eyes on mine. "Did you ever dream that you would be a father?"

I thought about it for a moment. The answer was almost obvious. Of course I hadn't dreamed it, and not just for the fact that I couldn't dream, not even when I was human had I dreamed I would be father some day. I had been more busy thinking and searching the glory of a soldier than finding a woman, no, than finding Bella, my soul mate to make a family with her and have children. And not even when I had found her, I would have dream that this would be possible some day…

"No, of course not. Well, I never imagined or thought this would happen obviously."

_You're right. We all believed something like this was impossible…_

"I think you'll be grateful when Bella wakes up that she had forced you to have a honeymoon when she was still human, right?"

My eyes narrowed, and if I were human, I was sure my cheeks would have been burning red with embarrassment. Of course Alice had seen it before I had myself. It was very inconvenient her little gift sometimes.

"When she wakes up I'll tell you."

Alice started thinking about Renesee in Rosalie's arms and then in Esme's. there was something in her memories that didn't make sense to the little girl I had held in my arms for a few minutes before giving her to Rosalie so she would take care of her while I took care of Bella. Something that didn't look normal to me when I saw her in Esme's arms.

Her hair looked a bit longer than how I had looked it. Of course, it might have been a little bit longer than I had seen it when she was born, it had been soaked up in blood, and now I saw her in her mind. Rosalie, surely must have cleaned her up and put clothes on her.

Just like Alice had said, she looked adorable. It was the smallest and most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Just like her mother.

"She's just like you, Edward." Alice interrupted my thoughts. "She's got you face and you hair color."

I smiled a bit. "She's got her eyes. They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"At least you won't lose them." She told me with a smile. She knew how much I loved Bella's eyes. How not to? They were the only door I had to her mind and her soul. "Everyone loves her already. It's wonderful how she's got us trapped without even trying."

In her mind, she looked over her face and each one of the members of our family. Rosalie… Jasper… Esme… Carlisle… Emmett. Jacob…

Jacob Black?

In the short second that her mind kept on the face of Jacob Black I could see it. His were sort of unfocused, they weren't looking at anything that wasn't the little face of my daughter. I hadn't seen that look not even when I saw Bella. It was as if he was looking at the sun for the first time, as if there was nothing or no one-rather vampires-around him.

This could not be happening!

Jacob Black had imprinted on our daughter while we were too busy to get him away from her. And in that moment, all pieces fell together.

I remembered his words before leaving.

The illogical attraction he had felt toward Bella had disappeared as soon as Renesmee had been our of her, how Rosalie took her away from us toward the opposite direction, just as he had said, the attraction pulling him toward the other side, toward Renesmee.

He hadn't had enough wanting to rip Bella way from me, wanting to steal her from my side, now he wanted to take my daughter away from me.

What was wrong with that wolf?

Alice saw the change in my expression. From a happiness under my face by seeing Renesmee in arms of my family, to a violent and frightening expression.

That dog was going to give an explanation. He was going to stay away from Renesmee. I wasn't going to allow that… no.

"No!" I turned to see Alice, who looked back at me confused.

_What is it, Edward?_ She asked me a little scared, too.

"Tell me that dog didn't do it. Tell he didn't imprint on Renesmee, Alice." My voice sounded just like I saw my face

Suddenly, I felt an almost uncontrollable desire of getting out of that room and taking Jacob from the neck, to break everyone of his bones until there was nothing, to making him disappear from the face of earth, that there was nothing else but dust…

"Relax, Edward. Jacob loves her, or worries about her as much as we do. And it would seem, that Renesmee likes him too."

"What?"

It seemed something obvious, though I hated Jacob even more for that. If Renesmee wanted him too, how was I supposed to finish him off?

I should've supposed, it was something mutual. The wolf imprinted, and the chose woman too.

Only that here, Renesmee wasn't a woman from whom Jacob could fall in love with, could feel something… for her. She was a baby, for crying out loud!

Misfortunes never ended.

"I want that dog to come over here right now."

_Edward, calm down. You can't talk to him in this state. Really._

"Bring him, Alice."

Alice sighed, and nodded. She walked out of the room quickly. For the first time since I had come into this room, my mind was finally letting me see what my ear could hear.

I could listen to him, playing with Renesmee, and Rosalie by her side. She wasn't very happy of allowing it, but Renesmee wanted him with her, so she had kept her words and reproaches shut and had allowed Jacob to stay with them.

But instead of Jacob to come up and talk to me, Rosalie walked toward the stairs with Renesmee in her arms, and came upstairs.

Far away, in a few second, the mind of Jacob disappeared. Too far away for me to listen to him.

Slowly, as if she were a human, Rosalie walked up the stairs. All the time her eyes on the tiny little face of Renesmee. There was certain glow in my sister's face, she glowed with joy as I hadn't seen it before. She was fascinated with the creature she had in her arms. I couldn't deny it, but Rosalie loved my daughter.

I could see every blink of her tiny eyes while Rosalie was getting closer every second to me. I took Bella's hand again in that moment, an emotion was filling my body and was leaving incapable of saying a word. If only Bella were awake…

Her minute eyes were looking at everything around her with a surprising concentration, it wasn't something normal in a newborn. Her little fingers were holding tightly one of Rosalie's fingers. She moved it from side to side playing with her, while her eyes were looking over everywhere, recognizing the place. Through her mind, the same wall passed by. Remembering when Rosalie had gotten out of the room with her. She remembered what she saw.

How was that possible? She knew where Rosalie was taking her to?

Rosalie, then looked deeply into Renesmee's eyes. I lost in them. They were exactly like Bella's eyes.

They were surprisingly the same exact chocolate brown color, they had the same depth that her mother's eyes. It was difficult to me to believe that a creature so small and beautiful could be a monster, could be a creation of a monster like me. I knew what Bella would say if she heard what I was thinking, I could imagine how her eyes would have tensed and what her voice would have sounded like.

Suddenly, I felt an anxiety when I saw Rosalie getting closer to the door. If my heart would have been able to beat, it would've been about to jump out of my chest.

Renesmee, our little baby was just a few feet from us. Bella would've surely been just as nervous as I felt.

The door opened and if my heart would've been beating, it would've stopped.

Rosalie came into the room, with a little bulge wrapped up in a pink baby color blanket in her arms. As soon as the profile of her little face was in my sight, I listened to the way I gasped when I saw her again. She was even more beautiful than I had thought.

She was a completely different little person. Her face was clean of blood, her hair was falling down in little curls to each side of her face. Her little eyes were blinking slowly, and in her eyes hands she was playing with Rosalie's blond hair. Totally innocent, and unaware that I was staring at her, until she heard to the air coming out of my mouth.

Her face turned to the sound. "Renesmee," I said, amazed to see her.

Again, just the way she had after her violent birth, her lips formed into a smile even more astonishing.

I couldn't do anything but to stare at her pretty face.

How had it been possible that I had once felt so much hatred toward this little creature, toward my own daughter?

I felt as if my heart would explode with the new feeling that was filling it. Love, pure love. Happiness. All the same time. It had filled my heart in such a quick, intense and complete way in less than a second, that it seemed that all that love had been there in my heart, hidden for the forced hatred I had forced myself to feel toward her, waiting to fill me.

Her little face fell after a few seconds, and her chocolate brown eyes left my face.

I felt a pang of pain when I saw that. Did she actually know about the hatred I had felt toward her, and now was she the one who didn't love me?

I would deserve it.

But then, her hand stretched toward Rosalie, I could see what Renesmee was thinking, and then, the same thought passed through Rosalie's mind.

_Daddy?_

Rosalie smiled at Renesmee. And then turned to see me before returning her look to Renesmee.

"Yes, Renesmee. That's your daddy."

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**Thank you people for reading and for having been so nice as to give yourselves some minutes to leave a review. THANK YOU. Cause if it weren't because for the reviews, I wouldn't feel like writing anything, you're the fuel that keeps a writer writing. So keep reviewing, please I'm begging :P**


	20. Chapter 19, CHANGES

**Sthephenie Meyer owns all Twilight characters and story!**

**Enjoy it, :D**

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Chapter 19. CHANGES

Her eyes turned to my face in an almost brusque way, anxious to get her beautiful eyes on my face again.

_Daddy? Daddy!_ I listened to Renesmee think.

Again, thousand of emotions ran through my body. Lots of them, I didn't even recognize, I didn't even try into recognizing them. I was too marveled listening to my daughter calling me _daddy_. Her little hands started to flutter in front of her on the air toward my direction. Her eyes were anxious. She started to move in Rosalie's arms, as if she were struggling to get to me.

I got frozen.

Could it be true, did she actually want me to hold her in my arms? More happiness filled my heart, I almost felt that at any moment, it would beat again.

Still frozen for what I saw, the little face of Renesmee fell again, her eyes narrowed in a way that seemed more of an adult than a newborn baby, that worried me as much as it amazed me.

She returned to see Rosalie, and her hand stretched toward Rosalie's face again.

The strangest thing of all, was that the same thing happened again, a second I was looking to what Renesmee was thinking, and the next moment the same thought crossed through Rosalie's mind. I didn't understand why.

In her mind, I saw Renesmee in my arms. It was a happy image, Renesmee had a huge grin on her face. I could almost assure that that was what Renesmee wanted, for me to hold her in my arms, in her father's arms.

Rosalie smiled at her, and nodded. "Right now, Renesmee."

Was she talking to her? That confused me even more, but again, curiosity or doubt that threatened with filling me was less strong than the emotion and anxiety that I suddenly felt when I saw Rosalie walking toward me, getting closer with each step she took with my daughter in her arms.

_She's truly amazing, Edward! You're the luckiest man on the world._ Rosalie was thinking while getting closer to me, thinking on the two women that were now my life. Bella and Renesmee.

I knew I was a lucky man, now more than ever! I had the two most beautiful angels that in this life or in this world anyone had ever seen. And to make even happier, the two of them loved me as much as I loved them.

My eyes were on her beautiful face, without being conscious of what I was doing, my lips twisted into a smile. I saw it reflected on Renesmee's mind, and her thoughts became happy. She knew what a smile mean. Happiness. She was happy seeing me happy. How was that possible? How could she know that just by having her in my life now, made me happy? Her face shined into another big smile, and when she got closer, her little hands outstretched toward me.

Without forgetting that I was still holding Bella's hand between one of mine, I rose with much care, and put softly her hand to her side. It felt bad, so wrong, and it hurt me to do it, leaving her hand to step away from her even if it were for just a few short seconds, and though those seconds were to take our daughter in my arms, I couldn't help feeling it.

Rosalie was still taking the last steps toward me. The little face of Renesmee was becoming more and more anxious each second. It didn't seem like the face of a newborn, even when physically she seemed like, her expression didn't.

_You know? She's been anxious to see you since I took her._

In her mind, images of the moment in which I gave her my daughter passed.

"_Don't worry, Renesmee. I'll be with you soon."_ I had promised Renesmee, giving her a quick kiss on her cheek before Rosalie took her.

_And Bella, of course. Demanding to take her with you, with both of you, Edward._

There was something in her words I didn't understand, something strange in the way she was telling me that. But in that moment, Renesmee, stretching her arms toward me, touched my chest. Her touch, her little hands full with the human warm that only Bella could've given her, sent sparkles to that place. It was something completely different of course, to what Bella made me feel. It was sort of relief and joy to know that Renesmee wished that I were holding her in my arms.

Rosalie put her gently in my arms. She smiled at me and took a step back. She knew that that moment nothing she said, nothing she though would distract me from the little baby I was now holding. It was fantastic, almost surreal that I were holding this little baby, and even more wonderful, that she were my daughter, that she were Bella's daughter, too.

All the resemblance she had with Bella was incredible.

I was so fascinated with her little face, her little fingers looked for my hands and she took of my fingers between hers and started playing with it. A little smile was in her face the entire time. Her eyes went from my face to her fingers playing with mine. I raised my hand, and put her over her cheek, a beautiful pink color flushed her skin, just like the one Bella had. Her skin was warmer than Bella's, or any other human's. I caressed her cheek, and Renesmee's smile got bigger.

_Mommy?_ Renesmee asked after a few minutes, turning to see where Bella was laid over the table still unconscious.

Pain touched my expressions, and Renesmee noticed the change in my face. Her smile disappeared, and when I didn't answer. I felt that I had gotten frozen again. What was I going to tell her? Her face turned toward Rosalie, and let go of my hand.

Again, pain ran through my body. I wasn't ready to let her go.

_Don't worry, Edward._ Rosalie thought, looking at the change in my expression when Renesmee looked for Rosalie, one of her hands outstretched toward her. _She just wants to tell me something._

What? I didn't understand what she was talking about. But in Renesmee's mind was still the same question she had made to me. She wanted to know what was happening to her mom, to Bella.

Rosalie smiled at her, and got closer. Like I didn't understand what Rosalie meant, I stretched my arms for her to take her in her arms. When Renesmee felt the movement, she turned back her eyes at my face, and little hands wrapped tightly into my shirt. She was strong, I could feel the effort she was exerting.

"She doesn't want you to leave her, Edward." She told me with a smile. I felt a flood of warm when Rosalie told me that. My daughter wanted to stay with me.

She got over Renesmee, and put her cheek at the height of her hands which stretched quickly, and touched her.

_Mommy?_ I saw the same question in Rosalie's mind. And that filled my mind with confusion. How was that possible, how had Rosalie seen what Renesmee was thinking? Since when could she read minds, too?

"Mommy's asleep. But she'll be with you, Nessie." Rosalie explained to her.

Renesmee smiled, and her little hands let go of my shirt. They looked for my hand again and started playing with my fingers. I could see that she more relaxed with Rosalie's words. That she had believed her, and would wait for Bella to _wake up_ to see her.

I noticed the change that she did with her name, but I had biggest doubt that distracted me.

"How did you hear what Renesmee wanted?" I told her, completely perplexed.

_Oh, sure._ Rose thought, while confusion grew inside of me.

"Well, I think Renesmee has a gift, Edward."

"What kind of gift?"

_Of course you didn't notice._ Rosalie though a little disappointed.

"You didn't noticed because you can hear what she thinks." Rosalie was explaining to me while Renesmee kept smiling to my face and playing with my fingers. "But Renesmee can put her thoughts into our minds, Edward. She only has to think what she wants and touch us, and we can see what she thinks."

It took me a second to understand and process what Rosalie had just told me. Then that was why I had seen her question repeated moments ago. That was why I had seen the same thought in Renesmee's mind as in Rosalie's.

"Are you serious?"

Rosalie nodded, a smile touched her lips. "She's special in more than one way, you know?" she said, while her hand caressed her cheek.

I didn't answer back, I was too fascinated staring at Renesmee's face. Her hand, after a moment rose slowly toward my neck, and before she could reach her goal, now I knew that she wanted to tell me something, I saw it all in her mind.

Then, her little hand touched my face, and the same images flooded my mind.

She was remembering the moment in which I had taken her in my hands to get her out of Bella's inside, the moment she saw my face and heard my voice, when she knew who was I, she remembered to the way Bella's voice sounded like when she said her name, begging to me to allow her to see her, the excitement and bliss she felt when she listened to Bella's voice when she were in her hands, the smile she had given to her mom, and then the thirst she felt when she smelled Bella's blood, how her face leaned down to her and bit her, how I got her away quickly from her and scolded her, then when Rosalie came and I promised her I'd be with her in a moment.

She seemed to be given me a journey through her mind, through everything it had happened to her and I wasn't there with her to share.

She showed me the way Rosalie crooned her name at her and caressed her. Then the bath she gave to her to clean the blood in her body, the way she felt when Rosalie brushed her hair with a hairbrush, when she put clothes on her and took her on her arms again, then Rosalie prepared to bottle-feed her with the liquid she liked so much to smell, and then she gave the bottle to her to feed her, and how she liked the taste.

Her next memories left me frozen in my place, but Renesmee didn't notice the change. She was remembering the moment in which she had seen Jacob. Rosalie had been playing with her, swinging her up and down with her arms, Jacob saw her from behind and the love she felt toward him, I could see, of course, it was like a siblings love… still, that didn't make me feel better. I knew that Renesmee wouldn't feel something like that for him, she was a baby, and that's how imprinting was supposed to work. When Renesmee reached a mature age, then she would feel… I didn't even want to think about it.

Then Alice's and Jasper's faces showed, the four of them hadn't been apart from them for not even a second, except for Alice when she saw her coming upstairs toward us. Renesmee had been curious, and Rosalie had told her she was coming to see dad and mom. My face and Bella's crossed Renesmee's mind. She knew perfectly well who we were.

She showed me every second that had happened since she hadn't been with me and Bella both.

At certain moment, I had to held back a growl when I listened to who had invented the nickname I had listened Rosalie said. _Nessie_. That dog of Jacob had had the cheek of changing the beautiful name Bella had chosen for our daughter, just because he simply found it weird. Who was him to decide such thing? I was more than sure, though I might be wrong as I usually was when it came to Bella, that she wouldn't like the change at all.

It kept going this way for a few more minutes, and then her eyes started blinking heavily. Then, without warning they closed.

Panic shot through my veins. I turned to see Rosalie, and the same emotion was reflected on my face. Rosalie smiled again. "She's just asleep, Edward." And when Rosalie said that, her little mouth yawned and stayed opened in a little O.

Her hand fell down to my chest lightly, where it stayed half closed seizing my shirt between her fingers. It was as if, even in her dreams, she wanted to make sure that she wasn't separated from me. Of course, I would see that that were it. No one could take her away from me if she didn't want to.

I smiled at her face, so peaceful, it reminded me of Bella's face. "Sleep tight, baby. I'll take care of your sleep as I will with Bella's." I leaned down to her cheek and placed a soft peck on it. Renesmee smiled.

That gesture, even when she was asleep, filled me with warmth and tenderness to see her cuddled up between my arms.

I had been so absorbed with Renesmee's mind when she started dreaming. Everything was happy colors, and butterflies fluttering from one side to another. I saw the faces of my family. Rosalie, Alice, Esme, Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper. Even that dog's, Jacob. But what it caused me most happiness, was to see Bella's face in her dreams. Even mine was mixed between colors and brilliant figures.

It was as irresistible to see into her mind as it had been to listen to Bella night after night whispering in her dream.

My mind was so full with the images that Renesmee dreamed with that I hadn't listened to Rosalie before.

She cleared her throat loudly, and considered hitting me on the arm to make me react. She regretted it on the last second, knowing that the movement would wake Renesmee up.

"Edward?"

My eyes raised toward her face in a reluctant way.

Rosalie got her look away then, and in her mind I could see the reason. She was ashamed.

"What is it, Rose?" I asked her, sincerely curious.

She took a big breath before speaking. "I wanted to apologize. For everything."

_I've been a fool, a selfish, Edward. Not I can accept it._

"I am really sorry."

"I know, Rosalie. And I also understand why you did it. It doesn't change the fact that I was about to hate you, but I never did, really."

Her face twisted into guilt, her thoughts got directed toward Bella. "It's going to be fine. I know."

"I really hope so, Edward. She's a great person, and she deserves to keep living. She has a family now, she has you and Renesmee." Her eyes rested on Renesmee for a second before turning again to see me. "I estimate her now, I love her as a sister, you know."

I didn't answer to her immediately. I was reading her mind, looking for the truth in her words, though they rang with sincerity. Rosalie had never been one of those persons who lied for the benefit of everyone else. All her thoughts had been in the surface of her mind, there never had been anything hidden, I had always considered her as empty and shallow. But now, I only saw truth. Everything she had told me had turned into truth since the moment in which she had had Renesmee in her arms. She knew that she couldn't hate Bella any day more.

"I know that everything would be fine. That Bella would wake up in a few days and that she'll have her daughter in her arms to love her with as much devotion as she did before she was born." Her eyes looked over my daughter's face again. "To love you as a human doesn't. I'm sure she'll be with you, with us forever, Edward." Her voice was almost fierce, that told me that she wanted it that way.

The days in which Bella had meant nothing to her had stayed on the past.

When I didn't answer, Rosalie got worried. Thinking that maybe I wouldn't be able to forgive her for her attitude, for her _selfishness_. "Could you forgive me someday, Edward? I know you said you don't hate me, but…"

"I don't hate you. And of course I forgive you." I told her while smiling. "Besides…" Rosalie bit her lip while she waited. "it would be fair for me to thank you."

_What! Thank me? What for?_ Rosalie was perplexed.

I half-smiled. "If it weren't for you Rosalie, if you hadn't been the only one supporting Bella unconditionally in this _craziness_, even when your reasons were different then, well… Renesmee wouldn't be here."

_I know. Something good came out of all of this. It soon will be better._ She told me, while thinking about Bella, her white and colorless skin, her eyes red. It was a picture that had terrified me for months, but now I welcomed it with wide open arms, as long as Bella opened her eyes again…

"Sure, my gratitude is not complete. Not until Bella wakes up."

"She will. She promised, and Bella always do what she says. She wouldn't leave Renesmee without her mom, and you… without your life."

_That's what she is, Edward._

Her mind, without wanting to, but without being able to help it either, changed direction. She pictured Bella in a coffin, really… _dead_. The word put a lump in my throat.

"That's not going to happen," my voice sounded as if I were choking.

_I know_. "But… what would happen to Renesmee, Edward? Would you leave her without her parents? I know you've said that you wouldn't stay in this world without Bella, you know."

I didn't answer immediately.

I found it very difficult to think that that future could be possible. It was even more difficult to think that it were going to happen. Rosalie was right. A few weeks ago my answer would've been obvious. I didn't care about what happened to Renesmee, I didn't care leaving this world and leaving her without a father. But back then I didn't love her. Now I loved her, more than I had never imagined.

Would I have the strength to keep living without Bella, and staying with Renesmee?

I knew that was what Bella wanted, she had asked it to me so many times in the past. But in truth I didn't know how I would be able to keep existing without Bella with me, even when I had Renesmee.

Would I have the strength to take both her parents away to Renesmee, to our daughter?

I loved Renesmee. And she loved me. Now it was all different. But, being honest, it caused me more pain thinking of a world without Bella.

The two questions were too much painful, I didn't even want to consider that anyone of them both would have to be answered. I couldn't get to think what I would do if I had to give them an answer. I had already felt it, that radical change in my mind, in my heart specially, Renesmee had become so much a part of my life as Bella was.

Rosalie realized that I wasn't going to answer. After a few seconds she sighed, and told me. "I'll leave you with Renesme, Edward. I'll come back for her later, alright?"

I nodded. "Thank you, Rose."

_She's just like you, Edward. She's got both of you resemblances. She's beautiful._

I smiled. "Of course she is. Just for the fact of being Bella's daughter makes her beautiful. It makes her human, that's her beauty, Rose."

_That's true. You're right._

With that, she walked out of them room leaving me with the two more important women in my life.

Staring intently to Renesmee's face and then Bella's, made me feel like the luckiest man on the entire universe. It wasn't enough with having just one angel with me, but they had to send me a second angel, and it was the most beautiful baby. I couldn't believe that I had such a good luck, though I would appreciate by Bella's side, I would know that this all had been worth when her eyes opened and saw my face and Renesmee's again.

Carefully of not moving or bothering Renesmee, I moved my hand to take between it Bella's hand. How long would it been before Bella could have Renesmee in her arms? She would be a newborn; she would have to learn first to control her strength and her... thirst.

That got a lump on my throat, and sorrow ran through my veins. Bella had barely held her for a moment, and she would have to wait for at least a year to enjoy her daughter. It hurt me to think that that would happen, I knew how much Bella loved Renesmee, even when she barely knew her, I knew how much our daughter loved her mother. Even now, I could see repeatedly Bella's face in her dreams. It was difficult for me to have her in my arms looking at the face Bella had had a few hours ago. Bathed in blood and sweat, with pain… but it was more difficult for me to think about pushing her away from me.

The two of them, mother and daughter, had such a power over me. In that moment, looking at her face, I knew that it would be just like being with Bella. I wouldn't be able to deny something to this little baby girl.

In that moment, though I could listen faraway to the voices of my family in my head, soon, they were becoming more faraway to the point where the only sound I was listening to in my mind, was a melody, putting together in my head. The harmonies shaping into a new melody in my head, the notes were so soft and quiet, that I immediately knew, that my daughter had inspired this new lullaby. Looking at her sleeping so peacefully, reminded me of Bella.

I started humming gently the notes, letting them turned into a complete melody.

There wasn't much time, the melody was complete, and I listened to the fluttering of eyelashes opening to a pair of eyes. My first instinct was to turn see Bella, but when I saw my face in Renesmee I knew who had woken up. The melody stopped brusquely, her eyes on my face. I turned to see her, and there was expectation in them.

Her little hand rose toward my neck, before reaching her goal I was already humming again. Her forehead frowned, surprise crossing her eyes.

I smiled at her, and took her little hand. "You don't need to tell me anything, Renesmee. I can see what you say without you telling me, little baby."

I had stopped the lullaby again. Renesmee kept staring at my eyes, processing what I had told her, and surprisingly, she understood me. A blindingly smile appeared in her lips. Her hands fluttering in the air.

_More, more_. She told while she remembered the lullaby I had been singing to her.

"All you want my pretty Renesmee." I told her, and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

I started singing to her again, her eyes stayed intent on my face for a few minutes before her little mouth formed a little round O and her eyes closed slowly. And the colors started where they had left.

I was found between indecision, I couldn't take my eyes off of my daughter, but off Bella either. It was as if I didn't want to miss any moment in Renesmee's life. I felt like any change in her face, in she herself passed inconspicuous I would lose it forever. I also knew that Bella must be suffering so much in that moment, that I felt guilty and bad to the point of pain for not being one hundred percent by Bella's side.

With a pang of pain, I knew that I wished someone would come and take Renesmee with everyone else's so I could suffer completely by Bella's side. I felt so happy and complete with Renesmee in my arms that it was almost criminal being happy in this moment. Of course it wasn't a total happiness, something that filled me and made me want to explode with so much excitement, it wouldn't until I had my family together, my two angels with me wholly.

How good did it feel to say: my family!

I realized that the only reason I could stand Renesmee to be apart from me for a moment, it was the Jacob's thoughts weren't anywhere near the house. He wouldn't be with Renesmee. That thought made me smile.

I listened to Esme and Carlisle walking up the stairs toward the room, just in the moment that I took notice of something… hair-raising, terrible. I had been so engrossed with the beauty of our little baby that I hadn't noticed how her hair, how her nail-fingers, and every single part of her little figure was growing without stopping not even for a second, it would be something normal, but not in the way Renesmee was. I knew that if a human saw her wouldn't notice the change, but she was changing and growing to an alarming rate.

Esme and Carlisle walked in then, and they distracted me a bit, just a bit from what I was seeing.

Carlisle my horrify expression and got a little scared.

_Edward? Is Bella... Renesmee?_

"No, no, Carlisle." I told him shaking my head. "The two of them are fine, I think."

Esme was so happy looking at Renesmee in my arms that she didn't notice my expression at first. She was so excited to see the way our lives, the way _my_ live had changed so quickly.

_Then, what is it, son?_

"Did you notice the way Renesmee's growing?" when I said these words, I remembered how myself had noticed the change when Rosalie brought her to me. How I remembered the face of Renesmee when she was being born and then how she was when my sister was bringing her back.

Carlisle sighed, it was a kind of tired sigh and at the same time a little frightened.

"I know, son."

Esme and Carlisle looked at me then, and Esme was no longer thinking about the happiness that caused her seeing me with Renesmee.

"You must remember that Renesmee developed and was born in less than two months. Maybe her growth would keep going the same way until reaching a limit."

Carlisle said that in a way that would calm me. But the only thing he did was to make get in panic. What if there was no limit, what if Renesmee would only live a few years before dying as a human does?

"But Renesmee is half-human, Carlisle. What if -?"

"Calm down, Edward. I've considered that." He sighed again, and through his mind passed the numbers he'd written down of Renesmee's measures since she was born. They were two so far. "In a few hours I'll go back to measure her to see how her growth is going. There's nothing to worry about, we don't know if this would stop soon, of what will happen."

Esme started getting worried that this news were going to make me feel more miserable.

"Let's leave that for now, yes?" she begged Carlisle, who nodded. Esme turned to see me, and a smile spread all across her face. "Oh, Edward, son. I never thought you were going to be father, that we were going to be grandparents thanks to you." She told me, her voice was full of glee.

"Thanks to Bella." I corrected her gently. "And I didn't think, either."

Both of them smiled when they saw me caress Renesmee's cheek, and then squeeze Bella's hand.

Then I remembered what had happened with Jacob. It took a great deal just to control myself and not cause some damage to Renesmee. Esme noticed it, and smiled at me. She outstretched her arms gladly to take Renesmee in her arms. I gave her to her in an unwilling way. It didn't feel right to let her go, that she weren't safe here with me. But I knew that I had to talk to them about that inconvenient problem with the dog, and it would be safer for Renesmee to be with Esme.

"Where is Jacob?" I asked between my teeth. Even having to say his name caused in me an indescribable ire to run through me.

_Relax, Edward. Jacob loves her as much as you do, as we do. He worries about her. _Esme tried to calm the ire I felt radiating from me.

"He went to La Push, Edward. He thought it would be convenient to speak with Sam, to explain how the situation now is, you know? The permission he granted to change Bella, y... well, Renesmee."

_Oh, Nessie, Nessie._ Esme was humming in her mind. Absorbed with Renesmee.

"Nessie?"

Esme turned to see me a little embarrassed. "Yes, well, Jacob named her this way."

That only made my rage against me to grow. "Her name is Renesmee. That's the way Bella decided, Esme." I couldn't help that my tone came out harsher than I pretended it to be.

"I'm sorry, Edward." Esme answered, a sad tone under her words. But I was so angry, that I couldn't quite care what I was listening.

_Edward, she didn't do it on purpose. You know that._

I didn't care that. No one was going to name Renesmee other way.

"How is Bella?" it was the perfect way to distract my thoughts. And they knew it.

"She hasn't even moved an inch. I should've done something wrong..."

"Of course not, Edward. I told you already, the venom would take hours to start making the effect. The same thing happened with Esme."

I nodded, and then we listened to the trotting of four paws toward the house. Soon, I could distinguish the thoughts, even when I knew who was one of them. Jacob Black. The other one, surprised me a bit, and at the same time didn't, it was obvious he would come back with him. Sam Uley.

"It's Jacob and Sam, Carlisle."

_Oh,_ Esme thought. _I'll take Renesmee downstairs, son, alright?_

"Okay, Esme."

Esme and Renesmee went downstairs. I could see how Nessie... no, Renesmee was still completely fall asleep. Rosalie took her immediately when they got into the room.

Carlisle stayed by my side. "Can you see what they want, Edward?"

_I hope everything'll be fine. Sam seemed to understand how things are now..._

_Everything's changed. We can't do anything against the Cullens or Nessie. They've done nothing wrong after all._

Though Sam's thoughts were comprehensive, it put a lump in my throat when I listened to him mentioning my daughter, Nessie. What was that, holly crow?

I listened more intently to Sam. _There'll have to get going the new treaty._

"Sam's coming in peace. He's willing to respect the treaty we had again it would seem. Nothing to worry about." I explained to Carlisle.

He nodded. _I'll go talk to him, son._ And with that he walked out of the room toward the front door.

The two of them got to the house soon, and walked into the front garden. Carlisle was waiting for them with Jasper and Emmett to each side of the porch. Jacob had already phased back to human, and he was asking Carlisle if I could be present there, given that Sam preferred to stay in his wolf form.

"Emmett?" he called, asking to be him who came for me.

Before he took one single step toward the stairs, I told him under my breath. It almost seemed like a growl, nothing was going to separate me from Bella in that moment. Not even World War III. "Don't even think about it, Emmett. I'm not even moving an inch away from Bella."

Emmett growled with exasperation for my attitude. _Oh, come on. Bella would not even know that you were apart from her for just a few minutes._ He was thinking while walking closer toward the room.

"Don't even get closer, Emmett. I'm telling once and for al. I'm not moving from here."

He then walked into the room. Her face was showing the discontent and desperation for my attitude, just like his thoughts. "I would only be a moment. Sam prefers to stay in his wolf form."

"Well go tell Sam that he'll have to phase because I'm not moving to work as a translator in this occasion."

_Edward!_

I ignored him, and returned my eyes to Bella. Everyone knew me, and they knew that I wouldn't change my mind.

_Fine. We'll see what Sam thinks._

I shrugged. In truth I didn't care. Nothing else mattered to me than being with Bella, always by her side.

Emmett turned around to the exit of the room, when I remembered... "Oh, and could you tell that mongrel that I need to speak to him immediately?"

_Who?_

"Jacob, Emmett. As soon as Sam leaves, I want him to come here."

_Oh, sure._ He understood the reason why I was asking that. _I wish you could kick his ass without Nessie to be going to cry..._

I frowned. His comment while he was walking away I didn't like so much. I knew how this imprinting thing worked, and if Jacob wanted her, Renesmee too.

Damn!

When were the misfortunes going to be over for my family? For me?

I heard Emmett coming out to the front of the house, where Carlisle and Jasper were still in the same position, Jacob was in front of them with Sam by his side in his wolf form.

Emmett snorted when he was by Carlisle's other side.

"Is he not coming?" Carlisle asked him, there was no hint of surprise in his voice.

"No." Emmett answered while shaking his head.

Carlisle turned to see Sam. "I'm afraid Edward is not coming. He isn't willing to be separated from Bella in these moments, Sam." He told him calmly. "You may want to phase into your human form so we can speak. You know we mean no harm to you. Besides, Jacob wouldn't allow it. Neither would I."

Sam thought about which decision to take for a minute. Finally, he decided to phase. This was something that was needed to be talked about immediately.

I didn't like it the he thought that I didn't want to be apart from Bella, because she might not survive, and I wanted to be by her side until the last moment. Bella was going to live, though the pack of wolves didn't like it. Of that I was sure.

Sam walked away toward the trees to phase and then came back. I knew everything that was in his mind and I knew that Carlisle would agree with each one of the new points of the treaty. It wasn't much different from the treaty we had done with Ephraim Black years ago.

I stopped listening after a moment, and I focused on the heartbeats of Bella, and in the little flutters that seemed to be beats of Renesmee's heart.

Carlisle and Sam were still talking, when I heard and saw from three different angles to Renesmee stretched in Rosalie's arms, and then opened her eyes.

She blinked for a moment, and then her mind was filled with confusion. She was wondering how she had gotten there with Rosalie. Her little hand stretched slowly toward Rosalie's face, she leaned down so Renesmee would show her what she wanted.

A flood of warmth flooded me when I saw what she wanted before Rosalie did. Me.

_Daddy?_

Rosalie smiled. "Your daddy is upstairs, Nessie. I'll take you soon with him."

Renesmee smiled when she heard her saying she would soon be with me. And then she stretched her hand again. She was hungry.

"Esme? Could you take care of Nessie? She's hungry." Rosalie explained to her.

Esme nodded, and took Renesmee in her arms.

It would seem that the entire family had adopted gladly the nickname that Jacob had given to our daughter without even consulting.

It surprised me how much it bothered me that they had. Even more when it came from that dog.

They really didn't take long in being agreed with the new treaty that Sam was here to offer. It was much better that we would've hoped for, and we appreciated it, even when I wasn't there to give my opinion. I was in truth grateful with Sam. And it bothered to know that I should also be grateful with Jacob. For a part.

In that moment I only felt ire toward him.

First Bella, and now my daughter, Renesmee. What would he try to take away from me later?

Sam took off almost immediately after they were finished. Jacob returned to the house alongside Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper. The first thing I saw in his mind was Renesmee's face, he was anxious to get back by her side. He had left her just because he knew that he had to, if not, he wouldn't have.

Emmett remembered what I had asked him to, and turned to see Jacob.

_Oh, right. Uh... this would get good. I wish Edward would break his face..._ Emmett.

"Jacob?" Emmett said.

Jacob turned to the sound of his name immediately. His mind was distracted for an instant, though almost instantaneously came back to Renesmee.

"What's up, Emmett?"

_Quickly! Renesmee might need something... some toy, I don't know..._ listening intently to what Jacob was thinking, I could see that it was true what was said about imprinting. Jacob saw her as a little sister, he only though about her needs.

Certainly, that didn't make me feel better, nor being agreed with this.

"Yes. Edward asked me to tell you that he wants to talk to you." When Emmett saw the grimace Jacob did, smiled lightly. "As soon as Sam left. And considering that Sam already left..."

Jacob nodded quickly. _Yes, the faster we get this over with, the best._

"Eh, thanks."

"Sure. See you!" Emmett said _see you_ in a tone that told him: if you survive.

Jacob softly caressed Renesmee's hair, who was asleep now. I was surprised to see that Renesmee were asleep again, she hadn't even felt the change of the pair of arms that held her. She slept too much too good to be a newborn. The thought made me smile.

I heard how much Jacob was worried about which would be my reaction. This was the moment he had been fearing during these hours, since he had realized what had had happened. He was sure that it wasn't something that I would like specially, he wasn't sure which be Bella's reaction, but he was hoping it were better.

I was usually wrong about Bella. The normal thing would be for her to be mad about this fact, but when did Bella react the right way? If she did, she wouldn't be now in this table half unconscious while the venom was running through her body changing her into a vampire.

A shudder ran along my spine. She must be suffering so much while I was sitting in front of her without being able to do anything...

Jacob was getting nearer to the room slowly. I could hear the way he dragged his feet to make his arrival slower. That only made it worse.

With my eyes still on Bella, I tried to calm down by listening to the beats of her heart. There still wasn't sign of Bella being suffering. But it was clear that that was happening, every minute, her breathing became more like a gasp.

Then, the door for the room got into Jacob's sight. His hand stretched toward the doorknob and stopped, hesitating.

"Come on in, Jacob." He couldn't get away from this. Just the fact that Bella was unconscious in front of me and I had her hand in mine, stopped me from standing off of that chair and rip his head off that dog. Only that stopped me...

_Edward... you know that this isn't really my choice._ Jacob was thinking while he opened the door to-finally-get in and face me.

When I got into his sight, I turned my head slowly toward him. Begging while I still saw Bella that whatever I was going to tell him, were something that Bella would agree with me.

I didn't want to do something Bella would approve of. How much did I need her!

These things were the kind of things that were supposed to be decided in couple, after all, Renesmee was our daughter.

When Jacob found my eyes, his hands raised into the air as if he were a criminal surrendering before a cop. It was more than that, he better than anyone should know. It would have been better and preferable that he had never put his eyes on Renesmee and he would have left forever from our lives. Now he was more a traitor than what I had considered him.

And to make it worse, he started out the wrong way. "How is Bella?"

I couldn't hold back the growl that left my mouth.

_Edward, easy. I really am sorry for what happened. But again..._

"Shut up, Jacob Black."

_My full name, a bad sign._

"You are going to stay away from our daughter. I do not want you near her, do you understand me? How did you dare doing this? First Bella and now my daughter? You didn't have enough by trying to take away Bella from me, and now you want to take away Renesmee from me?"

His thoughts were a scramble of confusion. _Take away Nessie from you?_

"Don't call her Nessie. Her name is Renesmee, you dog."

"Right. I'm sorry, it's just that Nessie..."

"I don't care."

Jacob nodded. Then his raised his eyes to me again. "You know this wasn't intentional. I'm not trying to steal Renesmee neither from your or Bella. You know that, Edward."

I shook my head, but before I could say something, Jacob started talking again. "Edward, I just want the best for Renesmee. You better than anyone else, almost as good as ourselves, know how this imprinting thing works. Yes, I love Renesmee, but you know that I don't see her in that way. I only want her to be happy. It's like she were a sister to me. That is what she need right not, when she needs a friend I'll be there, and..."

"And when she needs a man you'll be there. Do you think I like that, Jacob Black?"

Jacob didn't answer immediately.

_I don't know. I really don't know. Maybe not. What father does like to imagine her daughter...?_ he didn't finish what he was wondering in his mind.

"I should kill you, Jacob Black. In truth I want to."

Jacob didn't show any sign of stress or perhaps fear to my words. Because deeply he knew that I was right, but I also knew that he was right in part. This hadn't been his decision.

I could see that what he had said was true. He just saw Renesmee, almost like a sister. Almost, because of obvious reasons, he knew she wasn't. It was simply the way how he saw her now because Renesmee was just a baby. All his thoughts were spinning around Renesmee's sake, worried about what she would want, about what she asked so he could give it to her, he was even stressed with the fact that Renesmee was growing so much faster than a normal baby. Everything that mattered in the moment, was that Renesmee were the happiest girl in the world. There was nothing else in his mind, even when I threatened with finishing with his life, his only thought was Renesmee. He didn't care about what happened with him, but with her. Just her.

There was nothing else that could hurt him, more than being away from her.

But, what to do to keep him away from my daughter? The worst part was that Renesmee would also suffer, that was how it worked.

What was I going to do?

_I wouldn't fight against you, Edward. You have a right to be mad, but the only thing I want is that Nessie's happy, just like you, like Bella._

Before I said something, I heard Renesmee stretching and yawning while she was opening her eyes, looking for me, I knew because I saw my face in Rosalie's mind. She had fallen asleep again after she had eaten, and now she was awake, asking for me and for Bella again.

"I'll take you with them, Nessie."

It couldn't be possible! Rosalie too? Yes, I had already heard.

Jacob turned toward the door when he listened to Rosalie. Then his eyes returned to my face.

_Should I?_

Rosalie walked closer to the door, and we knew that he wouldn't have time to get out without being seen by Renesmee. The door opened and the first thing Nessie-Renesmee saw, was Jacob. Even when mine and Bella's face were still in her mind.

A happy smile spread across her face, and it was difficult for me to not being happy by seeing her smiling that way, even when I knew her reason was Jacob.

I could see what I had been fearing. Renesmee also love him. She was already too wrapped up into the foolish imprinting. My daughter would someday be in love with Jacob Black, just like her mother had been. I hated to think about that.

But I couldn't deny that if were got Renesmee away from Jacob she would suffer. And just thinking that our daughter would suffer made me miserable.

How would I stand seeing her suffering for not seeing him? I couldn't.

Her eyes went from Jacob's face to mine, and her little arms stretched in my direction. The simple gesture I was seeing, the anxiety I saw in her for being with me again, made that for a second I forgot about the sudden hatred that I felt toward Jacob. In that moment, I didn't care about anything else but Renesmee begging to be by her father's side. I wasn't going to deny to her.

Rosalie walked to me and Renesmee cuddled up in my arms. Jacob didn't take his eyes off of Nessie-Renesmee's face any moment.

It was becoming annoying, listening to Renesmee's nickname in everybody's minds was making that I said too. Even when I didn't want to.

"I'll be back for her in a moment, Edward. It'll be time for measuring her again, alright?"

Renesmee was playing with the buttons of my shirt. "Alright." I told Rosalie without raising my eyes from Renesmee.

_She loves to be with you, Edward._ Rosalie smiled, and got out of the room.

I raised my look toward Jacob, and without needing to tell him anything, he understood what I was demanding to him-not asking-to get out of here.

He nodded quickly and walked out after Rosalie.

In minutes, Renesmee fell asleep again. Was she truly comfortable in my hard and cold arms?

I took Bella's hand again, and squeezed it gently. "Oh, Bella. You're going to fall in love with Renesmee. She's lovely, and beautiful as you are. She's got your eyes, love." I was telling her lightly. I knew there was no chance that Bella could hear me yet, because I still could smell the morphine in her system. "Renesmee's anxious to meet up, to be in your arms. Believe me, I've seen it." A small smile formed in my lips when I remembered the thought.

"We'll be here waiting for you, Bella. I'll be here by your side. Forever." I swore to her again.

I was almost as happy to be with Renesmee in my arms, that I didn't remember that Rosalie had told me that it would almost be time to measure her, so when she walked in I was confused.

_Time for measuring._ She explained to me.

I nodded, I felt my forehead frowning with anxiety. Rosalie took Renesmee in her arms expertly.

_You are so cute, Nessie._

The wrinkles in my forehead got deeper when I listened to Rosalie saying Nessie.

"Could you tell Carlisle to come when he's done with Renesmee?"

_Sure I can. Everything's fine, Edward. Don't worry too much._

"Of course. How could I worry about my own daughter?" I asked her, a little sarcastic.

"All right."

Rosalie walked out of the room with Renesmee in her arms. I hadn't had much time to think about what Jacob has told me, in what I had seen in his mind. I would have to wait for Bella to be with me to decide what to do. I wasn't so good in taking decisions without her anymore, much more when those decisions were centered around our daughter's life and future.

Why did it have to be Renesmee the one who had to be chosen, the other half of Jacob Black?

I listened intently to what was happening downstairs. Carlisle was measuring Renesmee. It was staggering to see the way Renesmee perfectly obeyed to every one of the words from Carlisle. If he asked her to be still, she was, she didn't move in a way that didn't allow them to be measured.

It was just a few minutes before I listened to Carlisle coming back upstairs and leaving the tools he used to measure Renesmee, and then I listened to him walking closer to the room where I was waiting for him.

The door opened and Carlisle's head stuck out from the door first. _Edward? Rosalie told me you wanted to talk to me._

"Yes, Carlisle. Come in, please."

Carlisle nodded and then walked in leaving the door closed behind him.

"Still no changes, son?" he asked me while he was getting closer to Bella. He stopped beside her and in front of me. His eyes first were on my face, reading every emotion he could. He knew that I had been talking to Jacob about Renesmee's situation, but he preferred not talking about it. A wise decision, I still wasn't ready to talk about it. I was going to explode out of rage.

He smiled a little when he saw the way my eyes came down to Bella's face slowly.

Now that I had the time to focus solely on Bella, the pain in me was obvious. I could imagine perfectly well the way Bella was feeling, because out of the three, out of Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, I had been the one who had suffered the most during the change. Carlisle didn't have any idea of how this worked, or how this was done, so he had only recreated the wounds he had received. I remembered the pain, and I shuddered, knowing that Bella must be suffering so much, even when the venom had come straight into her heart.

"How's Renesmee?"

Knowing what I meant, he answered. "She's still growing too fast. In just two days she grew two inches, son."

"Two inches? In a day?"

That new information left froze for a few seconds. I didn't know what to say or what to think about what was happening.

_Edward, everything will be fine. You'll see._

I didn't answer to what Carlisle told me. I couldn't find the enough strength in myself to open my mouth and answer, it was almost as if a scream were going to escape my lips. That wouldn't do any good. Bella was burning with venom, and Renesmee growing to an alarming rate that would give her, how many years of life if she kept this rate?

The numbers got the best of my mind, giving me the answer that I really didn't want to know.

"Maybe the speed would reduce as days passed. We need more days of measure to be able to reach a conclusion, Edward."

I nodded. My eyes on Bella, wondering if Bella would recognize our daughter when she finally opened her eyes. "I hope so."

_And talking about Nessie and Jac..._

Before he could finish what he was thinking, I interrupted him. "I don't want to talk about that."

"Of course."

His hand checked Bella's pulse, listening to the way her heart beat. We could still smell the morphine her system. Her heart was becoming faster. Slowly, her breathing was becoming a little bit harder, into gasps.

"Everything seems to be fine. Her wounds are completely healed, her heart is beating as it should..."

Really, I didn't want to listen to Carlisle listing every detail of her transformation, but there was no other way.

_She'll be fine, Edward._

"I know." I told him, but my tone didn't correspond with my words, there was a slight tone of insecurity. Though I wanted to convince myself deeply that it was true, that my worry didn't have a reason to be.

Carlisle decided to change the subject, watching the way my face-without me being precisely conscious-twisted with pain.

"Sam was nicest than what we could have asked for without our family, son. I think the treaty is even stronger that what it was with Ephraim Black."

"Yes, I heard everything. All thanks to Jacob." His name came out of my mouth as acid, and Carlisle-of course-noticed it.

_I know you would want to hate him, but we owe him so much._

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, and it's what bothers me most. I only want that, and it's not very hard."

_Nessie loves him, too._

"I really don't want to talk about that, Carlisle. It just gets me worse."

_Okay, Edward._

"But there are interesting things now between the packs. If it hadn't been because Jacob went to meet with Sam to explain everything, even when Leah and Seth didn't want him to go alone, they wouldn't have found out some things, you know?"

That confused me. Clearly it was his goal to distract me, though a little bit, and he was about to make it. I was highly conscious of the hand of Bella between mine. His temperature was going down eventually, the color of his skin was becoming every time whiter, losing the beautiful roses color she had. The smell of her blood was slowly disappearing, while was getting mixed her floral smell with the venom. I was starting to notice...

"Jacob and Sam found out they can communicate among themselves yet."

Carlisle interrupted my thoughts, and what was thinking before passed to second level for a moment.

"What do you mean?" I asked him while I looked into the answer in his mind, still, he kept talking. No doubt, trying to distract me from all the pain and rage I was feeling.

"Well, it would seem that it's not the same than before, when they were just one pack. They can only see what the other wants, it may work as your gift does, Edward, or similar. They can only see what the other wants to show." Carlisle sighed, and then remembered something. "Well, it's only possible among the Alpha's. Leah and Seth can't listen to Sam or the others, and vice verse."

"Interesting."

"It is. They can also communicate long distance." He raised his eyebrows, considering again what he was telling me.

Another problem to be included in the list, something I had completely forgotten about, passed through his mind.

Charlie.

In Carlisle's mind I could only see that Charlie had called this afternoon, a few minutes before the sun had set completely. He had surely wanted to speak with Bella, after all, it had been only one day since she had told him he could call whenever he wanted. One day.

"What did you tell him? To Charlie."

Carlisle turned to see me. "Oh, yes. I had to tell him that Bella and you had left to Atlanta to get her into a special hospital. That we were leaving Forks soon."

_I know. It'll be hard for Charlie. It's more complicated than leaving for college. More when he believes that Bella is sick. It won't be very easy._

"I know."

"Well, Edward. I'm coming back later to check on Bella again. Please, don't worry anymore. Bella will be fine."

I just nodded, and Carlisle sighed to my reluctance, and got out of the room without another word or thought directed to me.

Thirty six hours had been since Bella had closed her eyes to not open them again. The only thing that told me she was still alive was her heart and her breathing. Now it was almost impossible to deny myself or to deny to me that Bella wasn't suffering, her breathing told me everything. It came and go in forced gasps, as if she were hardly trying to not move.

I caressed her cheek with my free hand, the other I had it securely intertwined with her hand. Her temperature was almost the same than mine. Her skin had lost completely its human color and blush. Her blood was almost out of my smell. What had once been freesias and lavender now was mixed with a smell like honey...

Then I remembered, decades back, to Rosalie and Esme commenting once how there had been a smell of honey in my scent. I had left a mark on her.

I understood why Bella had insisted that I were the one who changed her instead of Carlisle. She was mine and no one else's, as much as I was hers. Her scent was becoming every time stronger, just like her heartbeats.

Alice hadn't given me an estimated until now. On the contrary, she hadn't wanted to come by in hours, fearing that I saw in her visions or that I didn't see anything. She hadn't been very optimistic, she trusted too much in her visions, when she herself had criticized everyone else for doing exactly that. Trusting blindly in what Alice saw. I, better than anyone else knew that not everything she saw actually happened. And I thanked that fervently.

The hours were still ticking by in the clock, and Bella was still so still and quiet like from the beginning. I was starting to get worried that it had been too much too late for her, that she weren't moving forward as we all thought and hoped she were. I tried to shake those thoughts away, remembering that Bella had promised not giving up. No, she wasn't giving up.

I tried to lock myself in my mind, to turn off the voice that I listened downstairs, everyone's but Renesmee's. Sometimes, when she was thinking on that dog of Jacob or was in her sight, I tried not to listen to her. It bothered to accept that it was more often than I liked.

Rosalie and Alice had started out the day dressing Renesmee up, she had worn three different set of clothes in twelve hours. Besides they had been arming a photo album. Though neither of us needed such a thing. Maybe Bella would love to see that...

Approximately five hours later, I listened to Carlisle apologizing with everyone else and retiring from the room, to come upstairs and check Bella again.

His footsteps were slow while he was climbing the stairs toward us.

Then he came into the room, and his first thought was that it seemed to be no more smell of morphine in the air, much less in her system. I had noticed it a few seconds ago.

_Mmm, it seems she's changing..._

The image of Bella in his mind, was that, just an image compared to the living and human Bella I had fallen in love with, her image now, was another one completely though at the same time the same one. Her hair was still the same color, her skin was still so perfect and soft and her temperature, though it wasn't warm, to my touch it was warm. There was no more trace of the morphine, and the smell of her blood to lavender and freesia would disappear at any moment.

Carlisle came to Bella from the other side, and put two of his fingers over Bella's wrist to take her pressure and feel how was going the change that she was surely suffering through. Nothing could make me change my mind, not make me feel better and erase that agony that I was feeling by her side.

"Still no changes?"

"None."

Carlisle leaned down a bit toward Bella so he could distinguish better the smell of morphine in her system. But there was nothing to smell.

"There's no scent of the morphine left."

"I know." Why wasn't she moving? It should be possible for her now.

"Bella? Can you hear me?" Carlisle tried to get an answer from Bella, but he had already tried and nothing. As if she weren't there.

I felt a pang of panic when I saw that Bella didn't answer. Had it been too late? Considering that that was possible filled me with more pain. What was I going to do if Bella didn't wake? I didn't want to think about that, but agony had me trapped.

_Why don't you try, son? Maybe Bella would respond to your voice..._

I wished it with all my will. Even when something, deeply, told me it wouldn't happen. It was a horrible feeling, that I tried to banish.

"Bella? Bella, love? Can you open your eyes? Can you squeeze my hand?"

Nothing. And that only made my agony to get worse, that got me sunk into a hole of misery and pain, filled with darkness. I couldn't see the light until Bella opened her eyes and I were sure that all this nightmare would be stuck in the past, behind us, and at the end, we would have our happy ending, or at least something like that. After all, this wasn't a fairy tale.

No, it wasn't. And I feared that we wouldn't have that so longed, so wished ending.

"Maybe... Carlisle, maybe I was too late." My voice broke in the last word, fearing that what I had said were true.

_Edward, no. Calm. You know what I've told you._

"Listen to her heart, Edward. It's stronger than even Emmett's was. I've never heard something so vital. She'll be perfect."

I listened for a second to what Carlisle was telling me. It was true that her heart was beating strongly, almost healthily, except for the fact that it was faster than normal. I could almost compare it with Renesmee's. I remembered how was Emmett's, and I had to accept that Carlisle was right.

But… "And her-her spine?"

"Her injuries weren't so much worse than Esme's. The venom will heal her as it did with Esme."

I didn't find more reasons or excuses to keep myself calmed and optimistic, all the contrary.

"But she's so still. I must have done something wrong."

"Or something right, Edward. Son, you did everything I could have and more. I'm not sure I would have had the persistence, the faith it took to save her. Stop berating yourself. Bella is going to be fine."

His words, for as much as I wanted to embrace them, didn't stay etched in my mind, or didn't want to be accepted. I always found something more to hurt me.

"She must be in agony."

"We don't know that. She had so much morphine in her system. We don't know the effect it will have on her experience."

I didn't care that I knew that everything that Carlisle was telling me was true, because very deep down, my nature forced me to not believe them, it forced me to think that everything was going wrongly, that I had done something wrong so that Bella would be this way.

I leaned down to her, and put my fingers over the inside of her elbow, I pressed softly before whispering. "Bella, I love you. Bella, I'm sorry."

That was the most important thing that I had and could tell her, though I could never show her how much I actually regretted having made her go through all this suffering, during two years. Because though I knew she loved me and I her without a doubt at all, it hadn't been worth all the pain I had caused her. It seemed to be more suffering than happiness…

I already had too much in my head, but of course, Carlisle had to remind myself another issue to treat. I still didn't want to think about it, without wanting to consider anything while Bella didn't know what was going on.

We listened slightly to how Rosalie and Jacob kept fighting over Renesmee. Carlisle heard them and decided to intervene. After all, he was the only one that could put back in order a situation.

_Are you coming? This has to do with you, too. She's your daughter._

"No, I'm staying right here." There was nothing that could get me apart from Bella in these moments. "They'll sort it out."

For the moment I would keep away from that situation. For the moment.

"An interesting situation. And I'd thought I'd seen just about everything."

_Interesting and delicate._

"I'll deal with it later. We'll deal with it." Everything would be between Bella and I. I squeezed gently her palm, my hand intertwined with hers.

"I'm sure, between the five of us, we can keep it from turning into bloodshed."

I sighed. I wasn't sure who was more right at this moment. Rosalie had loved Renesmee since the moment she had known Bella was pregnant, she had fought by her side to keep her alive until she could live outside of Bella, while Jacob had hated her and tried as much as I had to get rid of her so then later in a second, now he would want to own her.

"I don't know which side to take. I'd love to flog them both. Well, later."

I wasn't going to worry, or rather, to think about that until having Bella conscious of the situation. There was nothing that I could decide about Renesmee without her.

Carlisle understood my silence. "I wonder what Bella will think-whose side she'll take."

A smile escaped from my lips, because I had already considered that question. "I'm sure she'll surprise me. She always does."

_Well, Edward. We have to calm this pair._

I nodded and Carlisle got out of the room.

The minutes kept ticking by, and my eyes didn't get off of Bella's face. Every time that I thought about the changes that were being quickly noticeable in her still figure, the change in the color of her skin, the change on the temperature, the way her heart was beating faster and also her breathing, I thought about the way she'd look at me when her eyes opened, how I wouldn't see no more those pair of chocolate brown eyes again; thinking in how much I would miss them, remembering them in my mind, my thoughts kept going back to Renesmee who had exactly the same color than Bella.

It had already been several hours since Renesmee had been here with me, and it would be more hours. Just thinking that made my heart to seem to be squeezing with pain and anxiety in my chest.

Renesmee was desperate to _know_ her mother. She had, almost, demanding to see her. She an amazingly advanced intelligence for her age, just because of that, thinking that Renesmee would understand the need of that, Carlisle had been trying to persuade her into eat something of human food. So far, he hadn't succeeded. She preferred drinking blood, human of course.

I could listen that Renesmee understood what my father, what her grandfather was asking her, but I also could se, that she knew that anyone had suffered to be able to give her that blood. So she didn't consider it that were necessary to change food.

Every time that Carlisle asked her to, he smiled when Renesmee pouted. She was charming, and it reminded me to the way Bella looked like sometimes when I didn't give her something, or when I pulled away before she wanted…

I wasn't sure of how many hours had passed, when I listened, finally, to Alice decide to come and see us.

I heard her walking up the stairs, her bad mood gone.

When she walked into the room, she grinned hugely to me. Her visions were becoming every time clearer, she could distinguish better what she saw, that of course, was the reason that her mood were becoming better.

The only thing I cared about was the timing in which Bella would awake, and considering that Alice could see better now, I decided that that was what I wanted to know. She had been trying to avoid me…

"How much longer?" I asked.

"It won't be long now. See how clear she's becoming? I can see her so much better." Alice sighed. Remembering the hours she spent on the attic as a real vampire. The recent hours in which she couldn't see got her worried that Bella wouldn't wake…

I remembered her mood, and I couldn't help but tease her a little bit. Now that I could see Bella in Alice's visions, I could allow myself. "Still feeling a little bitter?"

Alice answered me with a growl. "Yes, thanks so much for bringing it up. You would be mortified, too, if you realized that you were handcuffed by your own nature. I see vampires best, because I am one; I see humans okay, because I was one. But I can't see these odd half-breeds at all because they're nothing I've experienced. Bah!"

She hadn't answered to me, actually. I tried not to laugh at her tone.

"Focus, Alice."

_Always so desperate._ "Right. Bella's almost too easy to see now."

Alice focused on Bella then, and I could see it. Bella in front of us, opening her eyes to this her new life, her red eyes, and a smile spreading across her face when her eyes rested on each one of the members of our family.

This short vision made me feel hope and joy after so many hours of fear and pain.

I sighed, happy that it seemed, that the entire nightmare would soon be over. That all the fear and sufferings would stay in the past. That Bella would finally be forever by my side, by our side. Renesmee would have her mom, Alice her sister, and I my Bella.

Nothing else mattered.

"She's really going to be fine."

_When are you going to learn to trust blindly, Edward?_

"Of course she is." Alice scolded me lightly, too happy too, as to keep a level of bother in her tone.

I remembered that she hadn't been around here since two days ago, trying to keep her no visions from the future away from me. "You weren't so sanguine two days ago."

"I couldn't see right two days ago. But now that she's free of all the blind spots, it's a piece of cake."

Well since it was a piece of cake…

"Could you concentrate for me? One the clock-give me an estimate."

_Always having to work more, right?_ I grinned openly to her, and Alice sighed.

"So impatient. Fine. Give me a sec-"

While I was waiting for Alice to give me the estimate, I remembered the promise that I had made to Jacob, though I didn't really know if now I owed him something. Not telling Bella anything about Renesmee's issue, he wanted to tell her what had happened, to explain… blah, blah, blah. I had only promised it because, maybe, it would be better that she listened to him. And then the stupid test he wanted to put Bella through before she saw Renesmee.

"Thank you, Alice." I told her when she finally gave me what I so much yearned. Just a few hours more, I told myself, a few more hours and we'll finally be together again.

My hand was still securely intertwined with Bella's, I wasn't going to be apart from her for even a second. Much less now, just a few more hours.

"She's going to be dazzling." Alice commented.

Her comment, though right, made me growl slightly. She had always been, she didn't need from artificial beauty that vampire nature gave us. She had always detested to listen to everyone else thinking that Bella was nothing compared to me. That she didn't deserve to be with me, and it was worse when I heard it from Bella's mouth.

"She always has been."

Alice snorted. "You know what I mean. Look at her."

_Well, I'll be back soon…_ Alice said goodbye.

I smiled and nodded.

Without taking my eyes off Bella, I listened to her getting out of the room and coming back to everyone else. Rosalie and Jacob were still arguing over Renesmee.

They wouldn't stop.

I was so anxious after Alice had finally told me when Bella would wake up, I was so concentrated on her breathing, memorizing every one of her final and so treasured heartbeats, that I didn't even realized of the time passing by around me, nor the voices that screamed in each one of their minds, nothing, I only heard Bella.

Soon, I repeated myself over and over again.

I felt a sudden, and surprisingly pang of anxiety, but not for the same reasons, it was more like a yearn, the longing of having Renesmee here with me when Bella woke up, but her heart beat and blood ran through her veins, and Bella would be thirsty and maybe out of control being a newborn.

How long would it be before Bella were prepared to be with Renesmee? The same questions started spinning in my head.

The hours passed, and when I least expected, I wasn't paying attention to the clock… I heard it.

The change that I had so much been wanting, and I had though it would come later. I hesitated for a second. All the family would come here. Rosalie and Jasper?

I thought about it for a moment, and I knew that they both were the one who least wanted to have in the room while the process ended in Bella. Rosalie would have Renesmee safely and would want, for anything in the world to leave her in hands of that dog. Jasper, there was only one reason to not want him here, though I actually did want him, because a part of me wished to stayed conscious of the emotions that ran through Bella. Because though I could listen to what she was thinking, I could know what she was feeling, and what else would it be? Pain, there was no other option.

"Carlisle," I spoke to him, my voice was no louder than what it would be in a normal conversation. Wherever he was he listened to me perfectly and rushed to the room, Alice was behind him, knowing that it was the time she had given me, or so.

Her heart beat faster violently, the venom was just about to run out of her body…

The door opened and Carlisle and Alice got in.

_It's time, it's time!_ Alice was thinking, half happy, half anxious.

"Listen."

"Ah. It's almost over." Carlisle said.

"Soon." Alice said, while she thought about the other members of the family, even Renesmee. "I'll get the others. Should I have Rosalie…?"

"Yes-keep the baby away."

When I said these words I felt the fingers of her hand twitched, as if she had reacted to my words.

My breathing stopped just as Carlisle's and Alice's, shocked of having finally a reaction. It had been hours worried for her lack of movement.

Could she hear me now? It was the surest thing to be it. I had been conscious of my surroundings in the last moments before the change ended. I squeezed gently her fingers. "Bella? Bella, love?"

No answer.

"I'll bring them right up." Alice said, and with that she stormed out of the room.

At the same moment, her heart beat even faster in a such a way that for an instant I got scared. She must be suffering in this last second while the venom concentrated on her heart before finishing with all the life that was in her.

Then, her back arched and rose from the table, more anxiety ran through me. Of course she was suffering, and I couldn't do anything about it. Still, her eyes didn't open and her hands didn't hold on to my hand. Her back fell back down with a hit to the table. Carlisle was begging me internally to calm down, that Bella would be fine, that the fire was running off her system.

I listened to her heartbeats, and suddenly, her heart beat muffled, and it… shut.

Bella was finally, a vampire. Everything I had fought for to save her from was now in her life.

But at the end, we would be forever together.

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**Hi girls! I did my few words at the end now.**

**I hope you have enjoyed the last chapter, and again sorry for the delay and the time it took me before this all Fanfiction malfunction thing stopped me from uploading the chapters, I really thought I had already uploaded the 18th chapter, and then I saw I had not. I couldn't believe, but it's now available for you all.**

**THANK YOU for all your reviews, especially the ones I can't write back because you don't have an account, I appreciate every and each one of your reviews.**

**Makes me want to keep writing, so you keep reviewing. Reciprocate.**

**The next it'll take a few more days, so be patient. I just gave you two chapters, very good.**

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	21. Chapter 20, NEW

**Hi pals!**

**I'm finally returning to FanFiction... so sorry for the time it took me to upload this new chapter, but it's finally here. And writing the next ones, so don't worry about the time, huh! Thank you to the few people who had the willingness to write a review.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapters, before they knew what the Volturi are planning for them.**

**Okay, I leave you to read it. Enjoy it. =DD**

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Chapter 20. NEW

I had felt something more than excitement when I listened to her heart beating for the last time. Because she would finally be with me, but...

I actually couldn't believe that this had arrived so fast. Just at the moment when we had thought that everything was perfect, that Bella would keep enjoying her human life for a while longer by my side, without the need of quitting to her father, Charlie and her mother, Renee, that little detail, our ignorance was the guilty that had made us change our plans.

The future that had seemed so quiet and full of love for a few more years. Everything I had wanted was becoming true. Everything I wanted was that Bella enjoyed her humanity before giving up completely on herself before join me for eternity.

It wasn't that I regretted something, now we were more than just Bella and I, I had been able to give her a family as I had never dreamed I were going to. Renesmee.

Speaking of families, each member of our family, Esme, Emmett, Jasper and Alice, except for Rosalie and Renesmee, walked into the room just in the moment in which Bella's heartbeats stopped dead, extinguished for eternity. There was no other sound, not even of our breathings.

All I could see in their minds were anxious thoughts, and at the same time a little surprised of seeing that the change had happened so quickly. It had only been two days.

_Two days? Would it be because of the straight to her heart injection?_ Carlisle was wondering.

Jasper was the member of the family who was tenser. _We'll have to be really careful with her, Edward._

_Whoa, she _was_ fast. Two days. Cool._ Emmett was excited to see Bella again.

Alice was smiling lightly, she already knew what'd happen. _Everything'll be fine, Edward. You'll see._

Though I could see her visions of the future, I wouldn't be calmed until what she was showing me actually happened.

Everyone were begging and pleading to me to keep calmed, that all the nightmare was over, that everything would finally be okay, that Bella and I, and now Renesmee would be together forever. It was almost overwhelming to hear them, but part of my mind, was so focused on every movement that Bella did, that it was difficult for me to focus on what my family was thinking.

Then, her eyes opened to give some space to the only access I had to her thoughts. I prepared myself to see what was next, I knew they wouldn't be the beautiful chocolate brown eyes I loved so much, I knew, still it was surprisingly to see that red color shining in her. I controlled myself to not let a gasp escape from me. Bella didn't even start to being conscious of her surroundings, she didn't even know that we were there in the same room that her, watching her.

It was great relief, that after two long days, the longest days of my existence, Bella were finally opening her eyes, giving me access to her again.

It was a great relief to know that now eternity was waiting for us in front of us.

My hand was still holding hers, I decided not to move, Bella would freak out for surely. She didn't seem to notice that I was holding it.

I focused then, in Jasper's mind, reading every emotion that crossed through Bella.

The first thing Bella saw when she opened her eyes, was the light that shined above her. Her eyes concentrated on the light for an eighth of a second in what she was seeing, I could imagine what it was, being able to see for myself what she was seeing.

I knew perfectly well that one of the first she would notice, something that her human eyes wouldn't have been able to distinguish, an eighth color.

To which, not even Carlisle had a name.

I concentrated in the deep back of my mind to what Jasper was feeling on Bella. There was nothing more than curiosity and wonder to what she was seeing. It made me feel a little better, to see that Bella was feeling good, for now.

Her eyes were still looking above her.

_She seems to be reacting well. But... we have to wait for her to get up._ Jasper was thinking, a little worried by her behavior afterwards, the one of an uncontrolled newborn. My forehead frowned for a thousandth of a second, and then smoothed as quickly as it had frowned.

Carlisle was analyzing intently to each of her movements, to each action Bella made. Esme was just anxious to see that Bella were fine, so she could finally see me relieved.

Emmett was excited to see Bella awake, and there a small part of him that was worried for everyone else, for our family. Jasper had insisted that both of them should be at the front in case Bella lost control over herself.

Alice, I sighed mentally, Alice was Alice. She was deeply focused on the future, searching for some reason why Jasper didn't get calmed not even a little. She didn't see anything out of control, something to be worried about, so I calmed down. I saw Bella launching herself at me with her arms wide open, then Carlisle asking how was she feeling, then Alice bringing a mirror so Bella would see herself before leaving to hunt...

That reminded her. _You promised that I would be there the first time that Bella saw herself in a mirror, hey! You're not taking her to hunt before that happens._ Alice told me, while she winked at me. No one else than us noticed our exchange.

In that moment, Jasper felt shock emanating from Bella, but a reaction, more of surprise than something else. I didn't dare to take a look at Jasper and his expression, my eyes were glued to Bella. In the same instant, Bella inhaled, and by what I saw, her emotions were nice, she liked what she was smelling. Of course she did, it was a sensation almost wonderful the way we could taste the aromas that were on the air, she should be experimenting it in that moment.

Bella started breathing, and we with her. I kept reading her reactions in the mind of Jasper, and there was something around us that she found pleasant.

In this moment, it was one of those in which more desperate I felt about not being able to read her mind.

What are you thinking? I wanted to say.

Then, at the same moment in which a car passed by the highway with Rap music, Jasper felt a new emotion in Bella, she was bewildered. She had surely heard the same thing. Then scare.

What had scared her?

I was immediately anxious because of her reaction. She should be so confused with what was happening, that the fear was getting the best of her. Desperate to reassure her that everything was now fine, I gently squeezed her hand, my mind was in two places at the same time, Bella's face and Jasper's mind. I could see than more shock ran through Bella when she felt my hand on hers.

_Watch out, Edward! Don't surprise her that way..._ Alice warned me while she showed me what would be happening in a second.

During a long second it was the only emotion that emanated from her, and then, her muscles got rigid and arched, she let go of my hand and got away from me, her back against the wall, air hissing out of her mouth.

It felt so bad, so painful to see and feel that reaction on Bella to my touch. Maybe because it had never happened such thing, Bella had never been frightened or gotten away from me. I knew it was immature of me to feel that fear. It had only been confusion, at not being familiarized to out now equal temperature. Her skin didn't feel cold, but either warm. Bella, surely, should have been waiting for my cold skin...

Still, it hurt not having her hand in mine. It had been two whole days without getting away from her side for not even a second. It had not even been half a second, when I felt the change in her emotions.

While Bella was realizing what was happening, that it was me who had been holding her hand, I only wanted to be close to her. Suddenly, all the thoughts behind me disappeared for a thousandth of a second. My entire body and mind was focused on Bella, on being with her, on never having to be apart from each other again, on the life that was waiting for us with Renesmee. It was an indescribable sensation the happiness that made me feel that thought alone. Anxious for having her hand in mine, I leaned over the table towards her, I raised my hand in her direction, waiting for her to come back to me.

_Patience, my son. She must still be adjusting to everything. It must be confusing for her._

Bella's eyes returned to my face, and they immediately passed to the faces of my family. Emmett and Jasper were in front of everyone else, watching out that Bella wouldn't do anything she could regret later. As if I were going to allow anything to happen. Bella noticed the position my brothers were in, and she noticed the reason. Danger. Her body reacted the same way any of us would have, her nose trying to find the danger it seemed to be, not understanding why my brothers were like that for... her.

Her eyes rested, then, on Alice's face. She was behind Jasper, logically.

_Well, it's time the atmosphere gets relaxed._ Alice told me, while she was leaning from behind Jasper and smiled at Bella.

Bella, it seemed, felt relieved and confidence on Alice's smile, and her position relaxed, leaving the attack position from just an instant ago.

Then, finally, her eyes rested on my face. It was a relief to feel her so close to me, to see her so healthy, so alive, that it almost seemed another dream, or just part of my imagination, or even more likely, just a mirage that cruel faith was showing to me, playing with my joy.

She saw me for a instant, her mind, I could see from Jasper, was totally focused on my face. A gasp left her lips.

All this time, three second maybe had been since she had gotten away from me, they had seemed like an eternity, and I decided that it was time to be by her side again. Very carefully of not scaring her with my movements, she was still getting used to, I moved toward her, surrounding the table.

_Edward, son, careful!_ Carlisle and Esme were thinking almost the same thing. I ignored them.

Why hadn't she said anything yet? I could remember the pain that had caused her before and during her transformation. Did she hate me, as I had so much feared that she would if I condemned her to this life?

"Bella?" I kept my voice low, trying to make it sound calm, but I may not have fooled even Bella.

Not answer again. I focused an instant on Jasper, but there was no fear or hate in Bella. That made me confident, just a bit, that my fear were just that, fear, not reality. Her silence should be bewilderment about everything being so different, my face, my voice, my temperature, everything...

"Bella, love? I'm sorry, I know it's disorienting. But you're all right. Everything is fine."

Still, Bella didn't say anything. She may have been considering what I had just told her. There were too much to think about. It was true, Jasper felt the change in her emotions. Irritation running through her mind. While Bella considered my words, I continued getting closer to her, half ignoring the thoughts of my family that begged me to be careful.

I could guess what Bella was thinking in.

Renesmee...

Jacob and the pack...

The treaty with Sam...

Charlie...

There was an answer for all each of her doubts, though they weren't all in my power. I didn't certainly know what had happened with each one, just Ness-Renesmee, though there was the question about her accelerate growth, we weren't still sure of what would happen about it; and of Jacob I didn't even want to think about, but Bella's doubt would be about the treaty with Sam for sure; and Charlie, I only knew that Carlisle had spoken with him before leaving and her had said that Bella was in Atlanta, only that. But, it was hardly the best moment to worry about that. Not even I could focus on those issues, the only thing I wanted was to be near her.

When I were close enough to her body, to her face, I raised my hand slowly, so Bella wouldn't react like before, that she saw my intentions. With my fingertips I caressed her cheek, and imagined how her skin would have blushed with my touch. In that moment, I felt the same electric current running slowly thought my body, subtle but going higher. Her skin was just as soft as I remembered it, her temperature was now the same than mine, it was warm, and every thousandth of a second that I kept my skin against hers, the electricity got out of control inside of me.

While my hand was getting closer to her cheek to touch it with the palm of it, and cuddle it, my mind registered the change in her emotions.

Yearning?

Even Jasper was surprised when he felt that reaction from Bella to my touch.

I raised my eyebrow, I was a little surprised because I still had that kind of potential on her, that even as a newborn she could feel desire for me as I felt for her...

Surprising me again, just like everyone, Bella launched her arms around me.

I felt an incredible relief by having her by my side, that it was almost indescribable. As if were once again complete, as if I were able to breathe now that Bella was with me, and by what it seemed because of her reaction, she too wanted to be with me. She rested her face on my chest, her arms around my neck, the scene and the feeling were so familiar, that I could almost forget the situation we were in. she was a newborn just waking up after the venom burnt her…

Unaware of the strength she now had, the strength she was exercising into me, she made me say for the first time thanks to her an _ow_, not before I tried to half got away from her strong embrace, not wanting to completely do that, I pulled away a little bit from her, her eyes raised to my face, and without needing to see it through Jasper, I saw the emotions in her eyes, confusion and fright by my reaction.

I had to explain to her, I would never want to be away from her. I would rather she turned me into dust. "Um… carefully, Bella. Ow."

Her arms let go of me immediately, and put them behind her back, understanding the reason for my reaction. Again, leaving me caused me a pang of pain, I controlled myself.

"Oops." Bella said silently.

I smiled in the way that always caused her heart to beat uncontrollably, and her breathing to stop. Almost waiting for it to happen, remembering that it wouldn't anymore.

Taking her words for me as much for her, I told her. "Don't panic, love." I raised my hand to caress her open lips. Again, the electricity was running through me. "You're just a bit stronger than I am for the moment."

My hand caressed her cheek again, unable to keep myself away from her skin. Another wave of desire ran through her.

_How can she feel desire for Edward? Her thirst is supposed to be so unbearable…_ Jasper was thinking, wondering what Bella was feeling.

Then, she took her hand from behind her back, I could see that she was doing in such a careful way, more than necessary, and she raised it toward my face. Her fingertips caressing my cheek in the same way I had been doing it, sending more currents through my entire body, making it difficult for me to think in our companion, when everything I wanted was to be only with her…

Her eyes were staring intently into mine, when she told me. "I love you."

Those simple words, sent me to ecstasies. Happiness running through me, there was nothing more that I could for more than to listen to her saying that.

I smiled widely, feeling that my face wasn't enough for me to show to her all the happiness I was feeling, and the relief by realizing that Bella was still loving me like the first day.

"As I love you."

Without being able to stop myself another second more, without being able to stop the sudden desire that attacked me for just touching her, of having her lips over mine once again, wanting to prove that this were really the heaven we had so much searched for Bella and I, I leaned down slowly to her. Like the first time, my slow movements asked her to be careful, of course, that now that careful had to be had by her with me.

Slowly, I closed the distance between our lips, thinking all the time that this would like our very first kiss. In this occasion there would be no fears controlling me, I could kiss her for the first time in a full and total way, show her all the love that I felt about to make me explode with expectation…

Our lips met, and I felt the current of electricity that I so much missed when touching her lips.

I kissed her sweetly, and then, without being aware of my surroundings, as if we were locked up in our own bubble, I let myself give completely to her. All the passion, all the love and the desire I felt for her freed for the first time.

Our breathings became so fast as if we were still humans. I realized that Bella had also forgotten that we had companion when her body curved toward me in an inappropriate way. But for the moment, I didn't care at all. Bella could do anything she wanted with me…

The thought sent a shiver through my back of pleasure. Remembering the moments in which I had kissed Bella. That very first time when we were coming from our meadow, how this kiss had begun almost the same way, with me hesitating before touching her sweet lips, sweetly, gently, to not hurt her… now she was the one who had to be careful with me. How ironic!

But again, I would rather turned into dust into her strong embrace than being away from her.

Every part of my body felt about to explode with the excessive charge of electricity that was running through my body while her lips were kissing me. Now there was so much that I could have from her and she from me that before hadn't been possible. More than her lips with my tongue…

I still didn't finish enjoying the happiness that I was feeling all over me, that didn't let me get away from her lips for not even a second, when I listened to Emmett grumble in his mind.

_Get a room!_

I ignore him for a moment. Enjoying of this moment of happiness at my Bella's side. Everything had stayed behind us, all the suffering and the waiting for this moment to arrive. We would finally be together for all eternity. As I had wished since the first moment, as Bella had wanted.

Then, he cleared his throat in an attempt to get our attention. I immediately felt Bella stopped and got away from me.

I felt a pang of irritation with Emmett for having interrupted, but otherwise, we had all the time in the world…

Shame was what I was reading in her face, and in Jasper's mind. At least I knew that I could still read some of her emotions with just seeing her face. Her cheeks would've been burning red this moment. The heat I would've felt irradiating toward me.

I chuckled before moving to her side when she did. I wasn't going to allow not even a millimeter to be of distance between her and me. Nothing could separate us. I wrapped her waist tightly with my arms. I felt as if my face were glowing with glee and relief by being able to say, finally, that all the fears had stayed behind us. There was nothing that mattered, just that Bella would be with me forever.

Everything was perfect now.

Surely all of this Bella could see, too. Realizing of how much happy we would be very soon. Together the two of us, and by our daughter's side, Renesmee. A family.

Bella took a deep breath, and turned her face toward mine. Accusation in her eyes.

"You've been holding out on me." Her eyes narrowing.

I laughed, without being able to help it when I heard her getting a conclusion so right on target. Everything I had been doing while she was still human, was held out on her, her blood, her body especially. All of her, and now there was no need. "It was sort of necessary at the time. Now it's your turn to not break me." I laughed again.

Bella frowned her forehead at my words, and everyone else started laughing too.

_Oh, Edward. He finally looks so happy. It was about time to have his full happiness…_ Esme was thinking.

Alice took a quick look at me and winked. _I told you so._ Was everything she said, knowing perfectly what she meant.

_Well, it's time to get a little serious._ Carlisle thought, a little ashamed of having to interrupt.

Carlisle walked toward us, rounding Emmett. Jasper moved behind him. His eyes were on Bella.

_She's doing it too much well for being a newborn. Would she keep going, or is it just a lapse?_ Jasper wasn't sure that Bella would keep doing so well as she had been so far, thinking that her thirst could be too much at any moment. He was making that I myself got worried too. But at the same time, I tried to push those thought away.

But it was almost impossible, my mind was so focused on many things at that moment, on Bella, on Carlisle getting closer to her, on Jasper reading each one of her emotions…

Would it be possible for Bella to lose control at any moment?

It didn't matter if it really happened, because I would be here to take care that nothing happened to Bella that she could regret. And she knew that.

"How do you feel, Bella?"

Bella thought about it before answering.

The time I had most been dreading these days was coming. Listening to the way Bella had been coping, knowing if she had suffered or not, thought deeply I knew the answer.

I was almost begging internally to be able to listen to her answer. On the other side, I wasn't sure that Bella were going to be one hundred percent hones with Carlisle. I was by her side, and she knew that every one of her words would stay etched in my memory, and if she had suffered, the guilt would fall in my shoulders. Even when not even a scream of pain had escaped her lips, I could see the suffering she had been through every time her breathing escaped her lips as a gasp.

"Overwhelmed. There's so much…" her voice trailed off. I could imagine the reason and so did Carlisle.

Thought my mind crossed the moments in which Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and myself had woken up and opened our eyes to this new life, or existence.

We had all felt the same confusion when we saw for the first time the things as they actually were. We could smell intensely every each perfume that floated in the air, we could taste that same perfume in out tongues, we could listen to each sound that passed and before we hadn't been able to, we moved in such a way that what we saw didn't even moved or became blurry.

"Yes, it can be quite confusing."

Bella nodded quickly, before continuing. "But I feel like me." Her words caused me so much relief, after all the time that had been her biggest fear. "Sort of. I didn't expect that."

I lightly squeezed my arms around her waist, and I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I told you so."

_I don't understand…_ Jasper was still wondering to himself what was happening, when there was nothing to be worried about, it was becoming too much for him.

I tried not to worry about his theories, or about his worry. I focused on what Carlisle and Bella were interchanging.

"You are quite controlled. More so than I expected, even with the time you had to prepare yourself mentally for this."

_Let's hope she keeps it going._

I considered what Carlisle said. It was true that Bella had had too much time to prepare herself, my family had told her so many stories to let Bella being aware of what this life would bring to hers. Rosalie and Jasper, especially.

Bella kept quiet for a moment, considering what Carlisle was telling her surely. "I'm not sure about that."

Her answer left me tense for a minute, before remembering the difficulties we went through when recently waking up for the change. Everything was difficult to control, and remembering the way her emotions changed a moment ago all of a sudden… I understood what she meant.

Still, not even now, I could avoid worrying. I realized that I would never stop worrying, it was part of me, and that wouldn't change. I would always be there, by Bella's side worrying about her, and now about our daughter. All the stress was worth it, if I had them both by my side for eternity.

Carlisle nodded, considering what she had said, too. The next thing he was going to ask got me one hundred percent focused on Bella's reactions. My eyes on her face.

"It seems like we did something right with the morphine this time. Tell me, what do you remember of the transformation process?"

Bella hesitated for an instant before answering, and that was enough to make me wonder what it was she was hiding. It was frustrating to realize now, that not even when our brains were more alike than before, I could listen to not even a whisper from her mind. I had been waiting for something to be unblocked. "Everything was... very dim before. I remember the baby couldn't breathe..."

As soon as her voice trailed off after remembering our baby, Renesmee, I knew what was coming. Bella turned to see me, her eyes full of fear.

"Renesmee is healthy and well." Something I saw in her eyes told me that she had believed what I told her. But it wasn't still time for us to talk about Nessie-Renesmee. "What do you remember after that?"

Her face didn't betray any emotion. "It's hard to remember. It was so dark before. And then... I opened my eyes and I could see everything."

"Amazing." Carlisle said.

As soon as Carlisle told that, I saw that Jasper felt something similar to shame ran through Bella. Why would it be shaming to Bella having said that or having heard Carlisle saying that?

_There must be something more, we have to have more details. This is almost an exploit._ Carlisle was thinking excitedly.

"I want you to think-to tell me everything you remember."

Bella didn't answer, and in her eyes was discomfort. She didn't want to talk about that, it was clear. Carlisle noticed, and his thoughts took on a different direction.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Bella. Of course your thirst must be very uncomfortable. This conversation can wait."

Thirst. It was all I saw for a moment in Jasper's mind when he read that Bella was thirsty. Of course she was thirsty...

One of her hands flew toward her throat and she seemed to be caressing it, as if she could turn the fire off from outside.

_I think it's time to hunt, Edward._ Jasper was almost begging me. He would more relaxed when it when did it.

I dropped my hands from her waist, and only took one of her hands, I patted it. "Let's hunt, Bella."

Her eyes opened wide, full of shock. The same thing Jasper felt.

I remembered the conversation we had had, when Bella had asked me if that, seeing me hunting, would be something she would get to see: I had refused categorically, but I knew the curiosity had never left her. I grinned hugely to her, waiting for her to see that there was nothing to be worried about, not while I were there with her. "It's quite easy, love. Instinctual. Don't worry, I'll show you."

Bella didn't move at all, still too shocked to react. I smiled at her again and raised my eyebrows, almost waiting to dazzle her... "I was under the impression you'd always wanted to see me hunt." I reminded her.

She shakily laughed when she heard me, remembering, too maybe. Her hand was still on her throat. "Shall we?" I told her. I stretched my hand to take hers and caressed her throat. "I don't want you to be hurting."

"I'm fine. Wait. First."

"Yes?" Carlisle asked her, thinking that maybe there was something she wanted to say about...

"I want to see her. Renesmee."

_Edward..._ I listened to Rosalie worrying.

Immediately, I could listen to every each thought of the minds of my family getting tensed hearing to Bella. Even Rosalie and Jacob. Renesmee was happy unaware that her mother had woken up finally, and that she wanted to see her as much as she wanted to, too.

_Oh, dear. Edward, would it convenient?_ Esme worried quickly.

_She will soon see her, Edward. But will be after hunting._ Alice was telling me while she showed me a bit from the future.

Bella let go of my hand then, and they fell to her stomach, not flat and empty. There was no more baby, more Renesmee inside of her.

Carlisle talked to me in his mind and I turned to him.

_Son, it's your decision. But I think it would be better for her if she weren't thirsty, don't you think? Nessie has human blood._

All of that I knew and I had considered it before.

"What?"

"Bella." I tried to tell her softly, in a comforting way. "That's not really a good idea. She's half human, love. Her heart beats, and blood runs in her veins. Until your thirst is positively under control..." I hated to have to tell her what was next. "You don't want to put her in danger, do you?"

Bella frowned when I was finished talking, I could imagine what she was thinking.

"Where is she?" she asked me, and her expression became focused. Trying to listen to her, surely.

If I could listen to her, so could she. Rosalie was with her and... that mongrel, too. I didn't feel the need of mentioning it, not yet.

"Is Rosalie with her?"

"Yes." I answered her, thinking that so was _Jacob_.

Without wanting to waste anymore time, the sooner we left, the sooner we would be back and Bella would see our daughter. I could visualize their meeting without needing Alice for it.

I took her hands from her stomach, and patted them lightly. Before she could say anything, Bella interrupted me. "Wait. What about Jacob? And Charlie? Tell me everything I missed. How long was I... unconscious?"

_First what's first, right, Edward? She's got to feed._..

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." Carlisle was the one to answer her, deciding that it would be best if he explained to her. Besides, he had a better knowledge about almost everything than I had. "Nothing has changed much, actually-you were only unaware for just over two days. It was very fast, as these things go. Edward did an excellent job. Quite innovative-the venom injection straight to your heart was his idea." Carlisle stopped to smile at me and congratulate me again in his mind, but when he saw that it wasn't the moment to do that, he sighed and continued. "Jacob is still here, and Charlie still believes that you are sick. He thinks you're in Atlanta right now, undergoing tests at the CDC. We gave him a bad number, and he's frustrated. He's been speaking to Esme."

"I should call him..." Bella started saying and then her voice trailed off again. Perhaps she was thinking on how different her voice sounded like. Charlie would notice. "Hold on-Jacob is still here?" Bella noticed.

Carlisle and I interchanged another look. _That's on you, son._

"Bella. There's much to discuss, but we should take care of you first. You have to be in pain..."

Thirst was again what was Jasper seeing, Bella swallowed in a convulsive way before continuing. She was still as stubborn as ever. "But Jacob-"

In gently interrupted her. "We have all the time in the world for explanations, love." I reminded her.

All the time you want, I thought to myself.

"Okay." Bella finally agreed.

_Oh you're not getting away, Edward Cullen._ Alice interrupted me, and she showed me what she was thinking. I had forgotten about that, or didn't want to remember.

"Wait, wait, wait." Alice stopped us, while she walked toward us. Jasper got tensed immediately when he saw Alice so close to Bella. "You promised I could be there the first time! What if you two run past something reflective?"

"Alice-"

"It will only take a second!" Alice interrupted me before leaving the room and brought the mirror.

I sighed. With Alice you never win, I better not even tried to stop her. It was impossible. I heard her running toward Rosalie's room and took the giant mirror, in comparison to her. It was bigger and wider, it covered her up completely.

The entire she was smiling, excited of what was coming next.

_This is so exciting. Bella would see herself for the first time, I wonder what she__ would think..._

"What is she talking about?" Bella asked.

_I'm back, I'm back. Just a second, Edward. I heard you sighing. What's the rush? We have forever._ Alice started babbling.

Jasper became nervous when he saw Alice walking between our family toward us with the mirror. He followed her carefully, always looking out for her.

Did he actually believe that I would allow anything to happen to Bella or Alice? His distrust was ridiculous.

Jasper's eyes didn't leave Bella's face, and I even felt the spasm of shock that ran through Bella when she saw Jasper's face fully.

Being human, Jasper's scars had been almost invisible to her eyes, so it was normal that she felt that way when seeing for the first time Jasper's face. For a human he was beautiful, but for us he was someone to be afraid of, seeing his face and his arms full of scars that only a vampire could leave marked on us, it only indicated that he had been in war, so it was normal that one tensed by seeing him.

_Sure,_ Jasper thought, _it's as if I were a new person..._

Exactly, that was how Bella should see him. As if he were an entirely new person.

I felt Bella tensing, too, but for a completely different reason to Jasper's, and at the same time exactly the same one.

Danger.

Jasper saw and felt the change in Bella, from shock to caution. No one else was aware of the exchange between Bella and Jasper, but I could hear it all, and I was highly intent on each one of her movements.

Jasper smiled at Bella in an ironic way, for the situation.

_It would seem we're both dangerous in this moment._

Alice was still intent on the future of Bella, searching for what would be her reaction that she hadn't noticed what was going on between our mates.

In her mind, she recalled the moment in which I had mentioned to her this detail, not having made sure that Bella saw herself in a mirror on our wedding.

"Edward gave me grief for not getting you to a mirror before the wedding." Alice explained to Bella, and her eyes went back to Alice. "I'm not going to be chewed out again."

I felt like laughing. Please! It hadn't been anything at all like that, or perhaps it would have been like that if Alice couldn't see the future and had saved me that step.

"Chewed out?" I raised an eyebrow.

_Well, well. You know me, Edward._

"Maybe I'm overstating things." Alice told me while she turned the mirror toward Bella, who seemed to not be very aware of what was happening around her.

"And maybe this has solely to do with your own voyeuristic gratification."

Alice turned to see me, and winked. _Of course, Edward. Hey! You do know me._

We all stayed silent while we looked at Bella seeing herself in front of the mirror, everyone was studying her reactions, it was me and maybe Alice, the only one who studied her closely.

This had been her _dream_ since almost two years ago, and now she was seeing it fulfilled. She had always believed that she ordinarily average next to me. That I was some kind of Greek god and she was just a simply human girl with nothing to attract me or hold me by her side, of course, I had always known that she was beyond wrong.

For as much as I told her that she was beautiful, not only to my eyes but to a lot of more ones, though I didn't like to tell her that other ones found her beautiful, it was necessary that she realized all the attraction she exerted.

While I was thinking in all these things, the reasons Bella had to never doubt of her beauty, I listened to my family and of course, to Jasper.

The first reaction of Bella, was pleasure. It was a different pleasure than the one she had felt with me. I could almost hear what she was thinking of her new look.

I still couldn't believe that the image in the mirror caused her pleasure, when she had already owned the greatest beauty in this world that I could have ever seen touched this ground. Of course, with her human eyes she couldn't have been able to see what she actually was, what made me feel so especial when I had been chosen for her, not only for the incomparable beauty, but for her pureness, for her intelligence, for her good hear, for all what she was that seemed to have been created with my wished in mind.

Why didn't she see her beauty, without having had to get to this?

That's why it surprised me when her second reaction was horror.

Was she now going to tell that she was regretting it, that what she saw in the mirror didn't like it, that she wanted to leave everything and go back to be the same one from before?

Just thinking that it would be the first thing in my life that I wouldn't be able to give her, it caused me an immeasurable pain and sadness. This was all she had been being to me to give her and the only thing I had categorically refused to give her, and now she didn't want it, I found it difficult to understand it.

Her face didn't say anything, only Jasper and I knew what was going on through her.

Alice saw a second before it happened, the next thing that Bella would say, and I understood the reason for her fear.

"The eyes?" Bella whispered. "How long?"

_I too got scared for a bit, Edward. I thought she wouldn't like her image, it's normal that her eyes..._ Alice kept talking alone in her mind.

I answered Bella myself. "They'll darken up in a few months. Animal blood dilutes the color more quickly than a diet of human blood. They'll turn amber first, and then gold."

"Months?" her voice came out louder than usual. Stress emanating in each one of the layers of her voice. Her eyebrows raised with surprise and incredulity, at least that was seemed to be what Jasper was feeling.

_Uh-oh. Edward, be careful, please._ Jasper warned me while he was taking a step forward.

The emotion that he felt emanating from Bella told him that there was a mistake coming in track, though I didn't see anything in Bella's face that told me the same thing.

Alice started looking in the future, and I with her. No one had answered the question of Bella, noting the change in the atmosphere after having heard her tone and the reaction of Bella.

_I hope everything goes okay. Bella's doing it amazingly..._ Esme was begging internally.

On the other side, Emmett would rather have some fun for a bit. _Let's see what you do without being able to read her mind._

How did he know I couldn't? Of course I couldn't, but I hadn't said anything about it. I felt a pang of frustration.

Alice was starting to see that Bella would make a mistake, when her eyes rose toward our faces. We listened to her taking a deep breath, and the future changed.

There was nothing to worry about.

"No, I'm fine." Bella said, her tone sounded sure, as if she were trying to calm us. Her eyes returned to the mirror. "It's just... a lot to take in."

Jasper frowned.

_What! How is it possible...?_ Jasper was trying to understand Bella's behavior.

His emotion was clear, and then... _how does she do it, Edward?_

"I don't know." I answered to Jasper.

I saw Bella from another perspective frowning her forehead too when she listened to me answering, without having heard the question. "What question did I miss?"

_Yes, explain, Edward. You know how I hate not knowing what you're talking about._ Emmett complained.

I smiled hugely listening to Emmett. "Jasper wonders how you're doing it."

"Doing what?"

_Yes, doing what?_ Emmett complained again. Always so impatient.

Jasper went over quickly a way to explain to Bella what he didn't understand. His years of expertise with neophytes made him the most expert on treating them, but he was confused with Bella's behavior. It wasn't simply the most normal.

_Allow me to tell her myself, Edward. Please. I need to understand._

"Controlling your emotions, Bella." Jasper started explaining. "I've never seen a newborn do that-stop an emotion in its track that way. You were upset, but when you saw our concern, you reined it in, regained power over yourself. I was prepared to help, but you didn't need it."

_I didn't bring the mirror to be discussing about her control..._

"Is that wrong?" Bella asked, worried. I felt her body going rigid while she waited for Jasper or someone answered to her.

"No." Jasper answered, though his voice didn't sound sure at all.

_No... I don't know... this is confusing. Maybe..._

I caressed Bella's arm, trying to remind her that there was nothing to fear. "It's very impressive, Bella, but we don't understand it. We don't know how long it can hold."

Bella stayed quiet for a moment.

I was wondering what was going through her mind. Just like Jasper, I wanted to know what was that made her being so controlled, what was she was thinking in, what she felt...

But of course, not even now that she was a vampire like me, could I listen not even a whisper from her mind. All her secrets were still securely under key without access. I supposed that I would have to get used to an eternity of silence by her side. Not that I complain about. While she were with me, I could be still if it was necessary...

Alice, of course, had another idea in mind.

_I didn't bring the mirror to be ignored. I need to know what she thinks. Had she liked the dress?_

Well, something in favor to Alice, if Bella didn't like it I did.

"But what do you think?" Alice finally asked, while she was pointing to the mirror to leave clear what she meant.

"I'm not sure." Bella answered, she sounded more like she didn't want to answer honestly.

Her face returned to the mirror, and she looked at herself for a moment again.

_Bella, Bella. Always the same, right?_

My mind was still wondering what could possible be going on in her mind. And every time my frustration was getting larger.

Jasper felt the change, and guessed the reason. _Frustrated about not being able to read her mind as you hoped for?_

I didn't answer him, a little change in my lips gave him the answer.

A question that I had made to myself for a time ago came to my mind. _Would her mental silence somehow continue to get more and more frustrating until I went mad? Or was there a limit that I would eventually reach?_

Something her face made that Bella felt better, though I had no way of knowing what it was she had found. Maybe something familiar...

And then the pieces fell together. Her lips.

Bella raised a hand as if she wanted to make sure that the woman in the mirror was herself, and not a mirage.

_Come on, come on._ Alice was anxious.

Her hand touched her cheek.

I sighed, caught again in my own frustration. What are you thinking? I wanted to say, but before being able to say something, Bella got ahead.

"Disappointed?" Bella asked, her voice impatient for the answer.

I would have growled if I would have been thinking on the same thing she was, but instead of that I laughed. She was still unsure that for me, she was the most beautiful creature on this universe. "Yes." I honestly answered her.

Of course, it wasn't the same disappointment that she was concerned about.

Shock crossed her features when she heard my answer, something I expected.

_Edward!_ Alice scolded me in her mind, and growled. I ignored her.

Just like I ignored Jasper when the face of Bella left the shock and passed to show pain. My silly Bella...

_Careful, she could..._

I had had enough of the careful, this was what we had been waiting for to leave behind the insecurities. I wanted to tell them to stop asking me to be careful, tell them out loud and to Bella, that I would rather turned into dust in her arms than being away from her.

That's why, they had to know. It should be pretty obvious.

Ignoring them, I leaned down to Bella and wrapped my arms around her waist, enjoying the electricity emanating from her body. I pressed my lips to her cheek before whispering into her ear. "I was rather hoping that I'd be able to hear your mind, now that it is more similar to my own. And here I am, as frustrated as ever, wondering what could possibly be going on inside your head."

The change was immediate. Her biggest fear hadn't changed. How was that possible?

_He must be overflowing with happiness, my son._ Esme was thinking happily.

"Oh, well. I guess my brain will never work right. At least I'm pretty."

Everybody laughed internally of Bella's comment. Though Jasper was still worried and waiting for us to get out of there so Bella would hunt something and her thirst were firmly under control. He was getting me nervous too.

Still, I ignored him. I growled in her ear to both comments. "Bella, you have never been merely pretty."

_Edward, please. Could you take her hunting once and for all? We don't know how long she'd be controlled?_

Damn! If it were for me, I would stay the same way for the rest of eternity, holding Bella in my arms and sighing in her ear, enjoying of the electricity that emanated from both of us, but my brother had another ideas.

I pulled away from her face, and sighed. It didn't make me happy to get away from her, even when I knew that I would be with here in our first hunting. "All right, all right."

_It's necessary, Edward. Sorry._

"What?" Bella asked.

"You're making Jasper more edgy by the second. He may relaxed a little when you've hunted." I explained to her.

A wave of different sensations ran through me when I thought of Bella hunting, drinking the blood of animals from the woods or luckily some bear, she would be confronting them so she could feed. Seeing her that way would be so strange. I almost felt it getting on my nerves thinking of that. But Bella was as strong and durable as anyone of us were, I didn't have any reason to worry, although knowing that, didn't prevent me from doing it.

Bella turned to see Jasper to look at his expression, and it was enough to see his face to know that my words had been true.

_Should we go with him?_ Esme wondered, I almost answered her before she considered asking me or Bella. _No, they'd want to be alone..._

"Okay. Let's hunt."

This time, I could imagine what Bella was thinking. She had always wanted to know if she would someday get to see me hunting, at that time I would have said a categorical negative, but now with her being a vampire too, there was no reason to not allow it.

Bella pulled my arms away from her waist to take one of my hands. Then she turned her back to the mirror, maybe with relief of doing it.

Excitement and nervousness ran through all my body at that moment.

Our first hunting together.

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	22. Chapter 21, FIRST HUNT

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CHAPTER 21. First Hunt

Bella turned to see toward the window, and surely, toward below. I could imagine what she was thinking. Even when I knew that Bella wasn't really afraid of heights, I remembered sourly that she had jumped off a cliff just to hear _my_ voice, this shouldn't be so different. Or much more different, though they were only two stories, the angles of the rocks looked sharper than with her human eyes.

"The window?" Bella asked me, while she looked below.

The tone of her voice made me smile. She was certainly thinking on the same thing I was, and as always it caused an emotion to consider that aspect, the smile stayed on my face for a moment.

She couldn't really be afraid of _that_. She was a vampire. The ground and the rock have more possibility of getting damaged than her!

"It's the most convenient exit." I told her thinking on Renesmee and Jacob on the first story. "If you're frightened, I can carry you." That, wouldn't bother me at all.

"We have all eternity," her words thrilled me, more coming from her lips. "and you're worried about the time it would take to walk to the back door?"

No, that I didn't mind at all. I could walk the rest of our eternity toward the back door with her by my side. The problem was another one…

My forehead slightly frowned, considering my next words. "Renesmee and Jacob are downstairs…"

"Oh."

I hated saying _Renesmee and Jacob_, but they were the ones that were in most danger. For now.

I still didn't want this subject to surface between us, and my family reminded me that I wouldn't say anything.

_Edward, watch your words. She's got to be under absolute control._ Jasper reminded me.

I didn't answer anything to him, I was too much intent to Bella's expressions, and of course, to every reaction that my words provoked.

"Is Renesmee… okay… with Jacob there?" it seemed as if Bella was trying hard to listen to Jacob below. I would have wished to being able to give her another answer, to have told her that no, that we went right now and take her away from him, but I couldn't. "He doesn't like her much."

Again, the ire was threatening with making me lose control. Jasper felt the change in my emotions, and immediately made me reconsider.

Bella was the priority.

_Edward, it's no use at all to get angry now. First what's first._

Yes, sure. It was easy for him to say.

"Trust me, she's perfectly safe. I know exactly what Jacob is thinking."

Even when she noticed the way my lips tightened, Bella didn't say anything.

"Of course." It was a relief that she hadn't asked anything more, I didn't want to talk about that yet. Bella turned to see the ground again.

I decided to leave my rage aside, and focus on Bella.

"Stalling?" I told her, making this more like a challenge than anything else.

It would be interesting to see her how she'd act out there.

"A little. I don't know how…"

Then I listened to Emmett chuckled, he hadn't been able to hold it back for anymore time. Just considering the idea of Bella falling down just like she did when she was human. Laughing at the same time that he considered Bella as the first clumsy vampire of the history.

_Ja ja, do you imagine, little bro? I'd have something to laugh about…_

I ignore him as I did every time his jokes seemed out of place.

If Bella fell, it wouldn't be because she were clumsy, but because she wanted…

_Mmm, of course she won't fall, Edward._ Alice assured me, while she showed me a vision of Bella falling to the ground in a way that was… elegant.

_Agh, no. I hope Bella won't do that, I really hope so._ Alice started complaining inside of her, and I saw the reason.

The dress.

Bella would have a reason for doing it, that dress, though I loved it in her, wasn't the most adequate for going hunting.

Knowing that Bella would do better by seeing me first, "Watch me," I told her, while I neared the window, and let myself fall down to the ground. I felt the look of Bella on me the entire time, and Carlisle and Jasper gave me the best sight, analyzing every expression of Bella.

I could see the way her look had focused on my knees, perhaps analyzing the way I bend them to know what to do, or something alike.

_She'll do perfect._ Alice reminded me.

I heard the way Bella grinded her teeth together while she prepared to jump, too.

I followed her from five different views.

_Don't do that, either. Please, Bella._ Alice was begging.

Then, Bella jumped and fell delicately over the ground under her feet. The weight of her body had fallen perfectly, in the part of the front of her feet, so as to not break the heels of her shoes, for sure.

_Wow, she did… fine. I can't believe it!_ Emmett was joking with me.

Alice bragged a little. _I told you so._

Her fall had been adorable, elegant in a certain way. I had never seen someone more beautiful. Another wave of desire and happiness ran through me, knowing she was mine.

Bella smiled hugely at me. "Right. Easy."

I smiled at her, too. Listening to Emmett whining about not being able to make fun of my Bella. "Bella?"

"Yes?"

"That was quite graceful-even for a vampire."

Bella stayed silent for a moment, and then a smile that was almost blinding when she understood what I was telling her. She surely thought that in every moment of her live in which her feet had gotten on her way and had made her falling down or simply stumbling.

I myself had been witness of her clumsiness.

_I have to accept, little brother. It was._ Emmett reluctantly admitted.

"Thank you."

Then, I listened to Alice grumbling when she saw that her vision became more absolute.

Bella raised one of her legs to take the show she was wearing off, and then the other one. She took them with one hand and threw them back to the window.

Only Bella would do that…

Alice caught them before they fell to the floor, and with a growl, she complained out loud. "Her fashion hasn't improved as much as her balance."

_You better, Edward, that at least her dress would be intact, huh?_ Alice warned me, while she imagined Bella getting into the river to get to the other side.

_Good luck, son. And be careful…_ Carlisle asked me before we got away.

I took her and ran with her by my side toward the river through the backyard of our house, or my family's…

One thing I was going to miss, having her hugged to my neck with her legs wrapped around me while I ran with her in my back, now it wouldn't be necessary. With her being as fast and strong as I was, or more for the moment.

Well, not faster. But since she was stronger, I decided to let her think she was faster too. That would thrill her.

There was nothing more that I enjoyed more than seeing her happy.

We stopped at the edge of the river, and Bella asked me. "Are we swimming?"

_Edward!_ Alice reminded me, for the third time.

Since her dress was in the road of being ruined, anyway, I decided to joke a bit with her.

"And ruin your pretty dress? No. We're jumping."

Bella pursed her lips, her eyes on the river.

Well, it was true that it had a width of almost fifty yards, but that was nothing at all for us. Bella should suppose it, if I told her that we'd be jumping.

I listened to her words before she told them. "You first."

It was almost obvious that she would ask me that, considering that it had been like that back there, before jumping.

I touched her cheek before taking two steps behind, and then running back and taking a jump over the river.

The air touching my skin, and getting my hair messy while I seemed to fly over the river, was a similar sensation to the stimulation that I felt when running.

A funny thought crossed my mind before I was over the edge of the river and toward the woods.

Just before disappearing between the trees, still in the air, I turned and made somersault.

_Good job, little bro. It would have been more impressive if it'd been Bella, but it was great._ I listened to Emmett congratulate me while I was falling back to the ground. I was careful that my weight and strength with which I was falling on the branches didn't break while I stopped with their help.

"Show-off." Bella whispered, and I couldn't stop laughing.

I hear Bella getting back five steps, and I imagined the reason behind her hesitation.

_Please, please! Let her not do that. She won't, she won't, she won't._ Alice was trying to convince herself that what she had seen wouldn't actually happen.

But the image wasn't bad at all…

With Alice still begging for Bella to not going to destroy the dress that she had chosen for her, for her first day as a vampire, I listened to the other wondering if Bella would launch herself or not.

I could still listen to Jasper, so I concentrated on him for a moment. But of course, there was nothing, without Bella on the same room, Jasper couldn't feel anything from Bella.

But I didn't listen to Bella taking another step forward. She was still standing five steps back from where I had left her, I couldn't see her expression for myself nor anyone of my family, since she had her back on them.

For the first time, listening to Jacob seeing her from behind, I didn't hear any disgusting thought that had me on the edge of losing my mind. Everything I saw from him, was her best friend on the edge of the river.

It was a calming thought, and then I remembered why he was only seeing Bella as a friend now…

Finally, we listened to Bella taking a step forward, and then stopping dead. The sound of fabric being tore taking its place.

_I knew it. Damn! I should have made sure that she liked clothes before she was changed…_ Alice thought.

Of course, that would have been the only way of having an obsessed Bella with fashion. The things she liked and the ones she didn't like while she was human would remain the same until the end of the days, no changes. So that would Alice have thought.

My sister was almost resigned, knowing that what she had seen would really happen.

I saw the way Bella bent down forward, her look-probably-was on the part of her dress where it had been tore. It took her a few second to get the dress even on both sides, leaving her thighs free…

Then, Emmett started laughing. Of course that with Emmett that was always the problem, though looking at Alice's face, he tried not to exaggerate. While my sister was grinding her teeth together, seeing what Bella had done with the dress.

_Did she have to do it? Yes, of course. She couldn't hold herself. Bella!_

Jacob started laughing, too.

_I think she won't make it. Just look at her. She may not even remember how it's done. Just Bella'd be able to forget it._ His tone was joking, but I still didn't like it.

My anger toward him still didn't diminish a bit.

"Bella?" I told her, while I got closer back again to the river, to see what was taking her so much time. Maybe it wasn't what Jacob was thinking, but… "Do you want to watch again?"

Bella didn't answer, so I took her silence as a negative.

Of course she remembered everything clearly. Her memory was infinite. So I waited for her to finally walk forward and reach me.

I heard her taking a deep breath, and then she started running. After taking a big step, I listened to her feet leaving the ground, and the air moving around her, hitting softly her skin, her hair flying all over.

Sooner than I would have imagined, Bella disappeared from my family's sight.

I could almost see her flying over me. The strength she had exerted had been-obviously-more than necessary.

Before listening to her landing on the ground or over a tree, I was already on my way to the place where I could still listen to the air interrupted by her path.

Of the same way than when I was flying over the river, while I was running I felt the same stimulation, and even better, knowing that with each step I took was getting me closer to Bella. Then I heard her, she had fallen over a tree, the right way, because nothing had been broken. The distance she made was almost the double than mine. She should be proud.

It was impressive.

I listened to her starting to laugh her musical laugh, and not the normal one, as a vampire, her laugh had always been like music to my ears. It felt so good listening to her smiling, after all we had been through, it was unbelievably delicious hearing her happy, amused. All the fear, and the pain all but forgotten. I focused only on her, and let those thoughts aside.

When I reached the tree where Bella was still swinging, she let herself fall to the ground on the same way she had when she was wearing those heels.

"Was that good?" Bella asked me, her breathing was still ragged.

"Very good." I told her in a casual way, trying to hide the surprise I felt inside of me. I didn't think I had fooled her, I could see my eyes on hers, and they were huge with surprise.

"Can we do it again?" Bella told me.

And thought I could not listen to any member of my family, I knew perfectly well what Jasper would say.

So I reminded Bella the same thing. "Focus, Bella-we're on a hunting trip."

"Oh, right." Bella said while nodding. "Hunting."

"Follow me… if you can." I smiled openly at her, making my tone and my expression mocking. I was looking to the time of giving more excitement to her new life. I sprinted off, and I immediately heard her behind me.

Bella kept herself by my side without difficulty. Everything related to physical things should be easy, instinctual. It was incredible to see how Bella was good at this of being a vampire, and she was barely a few hours old. Seeing her happy was the thing I cared the most, and for what I could see from her, she was. That was the main thing, for now.

I remembered what Alice had told me, and it _would_ be a good idea.

It was obvious that I was faster than her, and I was about to reconsider not giving her some advantage, when at the last second I changed my mind. Bella was stronger for the moment, so she could easily keep up to my side, on the other side, that I kept my speed like hers was very different.

Of course she didn't know that. I could imagine what she would tell me if she knew that I was letting her pass my side and left me behind her.

Now and then I could listen to a small laugh escaping her lips while we were running. I imagined the reason, of course that was all I could do, imagine. Her feet were shoeless so she could feel the ground below her, the leaves she stepped on, everything; and everything was soft at the touch, something that she surely wouldn't have waited to be. Even the air felt different in this form than when being human, it was warm always against our skin, though we could distinguish the temperature.

Bella could see every little creature from the woods in our path. Their little hears running faster when they smelled our scent, smelling the danger... that instinct that had been absent on Bella.

I had not noticed that we were going too far away, Bella was so excited about her new speed and strength that she didn't even care where she was going to. It almost felt criminal stopping her and making her forget about her ecstasies, but I had to.

I slowed down a bit, while Bella kept hers, it would have seen to her or anyone else who saw us on the outside that I was falling behind her.

I stopped and heard Bella laughing happily when she heard me stopping.

"Bella," I called her, I wasn't sure if she would only stop or come back to me. There was nothing more that I wished than she came back to me...

I listened her sighing when she heard me, and she turned around toward me. Her eyes rested on my face for a fifth of a second before returning to my side. A smile formed on my face before she reached me. Her eyes and her expression were almost funny, expectation on them if I wasn't wrong. I raised an eyebrow before asking her.

"Did you want to stay in the country? Or were you planning to continue on to Canada this afternoon?" I asked her, amused by just thinking on the possibility that Bella had been really thinking on that part.

"This is fine," Bella told me. Though in her eyes, she seemed to be concentrating more on my lips than in my voice or what I was telling her. I, too, was more focused on her lips... "What are we hunting?"

"Elk. I thought something easy" her eyes narrowed when I said _easy_. "for your first time..." my voice trailed off, then.

It was true that Bella didn't anything easy now, but my instincts were still strongly stick to the concept of protecting her from any kind of _danger_.

Even when the most dangerous thing around us were ourselves, and one or another wolf around a few miles distance from us. But, of course, that wasn't something that should a worry for us. Still, I couldn't help it.

"Where?" Bella asked.

I could see her look passing over the trees surrounding us, searching. There was a sign of impatience on her expression. Her thirst must be unbearable.

Mine wasn't too far from being just as hers was. It had been weeks since I had hunted anything. There had only been one time in which I had left so much time passed, months ago, when I had decided to make the worst mistake of my existence. Leaving Bella.

I banished from my mind those memories before it showed the pain of remembering them in my face.

"Hold still for a minute." I put my attention back on Bella completely, and then my hands on her shoulders while I explained to her what had to be done. It was something good that I had so many years getting my self-control better and so much time managing my desire for Bella to control myself at that moment...

"Now close your eyes." Bella closed her eyes, and without being able to resist for any second more, I took the minute chance to caress her cheeks. Her skin was so soft... it wasn't odd, she hadn't lost anything with her change, she was still my Bella, just a little more durable as I had once told her.

Surprising me, her breathing got a little faster and I could almost see the blood rushing up to her face to give her than red color to her cheeks.

At least I still had certain power over her with my touch. The thought made me smile.

I controlled myself to go on. "Listen. What do you hear?"

I had decided not to move from my spot, to search for our unlucky preys farther or closer, before Bella returned to me I had listened to a pack of elks nearby the edge of the river.

It was fascinating to look at Bella's face while her eyes remained closed, I could have spent that way the rest of the next decade, the next century by her side without moving an inch. With just seeing her face, the wind moving her hair at its rhythm, softly hitting her skin, I forced myself to see only her face, her closed eyelids, her lips slightly open, and nothing more than that. If I looked down and saw her beautiful body covered scarcely by her now almost destroyed dress. No! Control yourself, I told myself. We're hunting! I reminded myself.

I focused a moment on her scent, it still had that little floral touch that was now mixed with a little bit of honey. Again, I found myself imagining how would her reaction be if I kissed her by surprise...

It wouldn't be a good idea, to interrupt her when she was so concentrated, she might attack me without even being conscious of her acts. So I focused next to her in the pack of elks a few feet away from us.

"By the creek, to the northeast?" she asked me while keeping her eyes closed.

Well done, Bella, love, I wanted to tell her. I held back. "Yes. Now... wait for the breeze again... what do you smell?"

My mind was focused on every movement and change that were on Bella, that the only thing I could smell, mostly, was her own scent. It still surprised me that her scent had mixed with mine. Though I didn't detect in it anything alike to lilies. Mmm... I shortly considered that. Before now, I hadn't considered that my scent had a floral touch just like Bella's. The idea of having something more in common with my angel made me glad.

Touching still her face, I remembered the day in which I had dared for the first time to touch her delicate skin before leaving her at her gym class.

The sensation was nothing different, I felt the same electric current that ran through me by having my skin on hers at that moment.

I was distracted by seeing Bella wrinkling her nose, maybe smelling the not at all attractive smell of the herbivores.

I chuckled, noticing that my own nose had wrinkled when I smelled myself again the smell. "I know-it takes some time getting used to."

"Three?" Bella asked, getting it right. Almost.

"Five. There are two more in the threes behind them."

"What do I do now?"

I smiled, remembering that this was the first time of Bella on this, so she obviously didn't have any _logically_ idea of what to do, but... "What do you feel like doing?"

Bella didn't answer at the moment, her eyes kept closed. I could tell that she was trying to find the answer inside of her. She had been doing so well so far, so I didn't have any doubt that this time would do just as well.

She seemed to have a natural talent in this of being a vampire.

Then, without previous warning, her eyes snapped open. She had found the answer.

"Don't think about it." I told her, while I took my hands off her face, it was harder than it should to do it, and I took a step back, giving her some space to move. "Just follow your instincts."

Bella got away from me, following the scent that gave signs of turning off or, rather, controlling her thirst. The entire time in which Bella took a step farther from me, my body became tenser and my mind more anxious, I had to control the desire of taking off behind her and took her hand in mine, it wouldn't be wise of me. Knowing the way our reactions worked at these moments. Interrupting her in the middle of her hunting would only cause that Bella attacked. And her target wouldn't be those animals.

When she got to the edge of the small meadow where the elks were by the edge of the river, I saw how her body changed position, she had crouched, getting ready to attack. From the place where I was I could make sure that she had on her sight the closer elk, I could hear the other four going toward the woods to the east.

Then, her body tensed, at any moment she would be listening to the elk drowning and trying futilely to get out of its strong predator's hands.

It was a half confusing sensation being watching Bella about to attack an animal to drink its blood and satiate her thirst. I was between anxiety and wonder at seeing her so sure, walking toward her goal in such an elegant way as never before...

The sudden smell of human blood interrupted my thoughts. I heard the thoughts before seeing that the elks ran frightened because of the sound of others hunters in wait inside of the wood, and Bella changing direction toward the smell that was now much more appealing than the one from the herbivores from a moment ago.

I got frozen for a instant, while I listened to what I so much feared.

They weren't very far, and if I didn't get Bella out of here immediately, it would be too little too late... No!

"_And I'm going to do my best to keep you out of temptation's way."_ I had promised Bella minutes before we got engaged.

I didn't have the time to scold myself for not having taken the right amount of care. I walked toward Bella carefully, remembering the way we reacted when we were interrupted. Bella would immediately feel that something was chasing down at her and would interrupt her hunting.

Careful not to provoke a negative reaction in her, I walked slowly toward her, preparing myself in case Bella walked too close to the almost impossible to resist temptation that was human blood. Her steps became slower, her self-preservation instinct was winning over. It was a good sign, I just needed her to turn around and a second of doubt in her eyes.

I advanced a little bit faster, my arms prepared to catch Bella between them and prevent her from keep moving forward toward those humans that had decided to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Bella turned toward me, then, her mouth opened exposing her perfect teeth while a hiss was coming out of her. Never in my existence did I imagine that someday I would hear coming out of Bella such a fierce growl to me. But again, it was natural she did. She didn't even seem aware of knowing who I was in that moment. The only thing that was in her mind for sure, was to defend herself from her pursuer.

Air flew in our direction and before it happened, I knew that Bella would get her sanity back, such as it had happened with me when I crossed her scent...

Her expression became horrified, and without expecting it, her body left the attacking position in which she was to straighten herself. I heard her holding her breath.

She seemed to have recovered her reason. How was it possible?

"I have to get away from here." She told me gritting her teeth. The forced words while she was trying to not use more oxygen than she had.

Again, how was it possible that she could do that? "Can you leave?"

Bella didn't answer to me. Her face kept frozen for a thousandth of a second considering something, though I had no idea what it was, before I could think on something, she sprinted off to the north. The entire time I heard her stop breathing.

I was frozen again for a short second. I was too much shocked to take off after her immediately.

I couldn't reason the situation.

It was difficult for a mature vampire with decades or even centuries of expertise trying to avoid human blood to stop half-hunting when they crossed the scent of humans. Bella was just, what, ten, fifteen minutes of being a vampire?

I didn't understand for as much as I spin the issue in my mind. She had not even needed my help. Thinking in what it should have cost her to leave, brought me back. I ran off like a bullet in her direction following her scent to reach her.

I didn't have to run much, in less than a minute I already had her in my sight. While I was getting close to her, another part of my mind was still wondering how Bella had done it, and the other part of my mind was worried about her.

It had been an unforgivable carelessness from me!

Risking that we would cross to... we were so far away from any kind of civilization that I never imagined that there was going to be someone so close to us that would put Bella on the temptation's way.

She had just woken up, her thirst must be uncontrollable-or at least it should be that way-because she had been able to control some way. But, how?

When I was by her side, I was about to ask her that she stopped or before she could speak to me while we were still running, Bella suddenly stopped, letting me continue running for not expecting her to stop.

I ran past her for several more feet before turning around and coming back to her side in a second.

I could feel the shock and surprise plainly yet in the emotions on my face. I got to her side and I put my hands on her shoulders. "How did you do that?"

Instead of answering, Bella realized of the little advantage I had given her before. "You let me beat you before, didn't you?"

I had not even considered that when I ran off after her. The only thing that was on my mind, was the complete pain that she must be suffering again for my cause and how she had done.

It was incomprehensible to me.

We had almost a century trying to stay away from human blood and it still was difficult. Only Carlisle could do it without suffering from his thirst.

I shrugged instead of answering, and shook my head, refusing to be sidetracked. "Bella, how did you do it?"

"Run away? I held my breath." Bella answered, leaving me even more surprised.

Even when she had done that, there was something more vital. "But how did you stop hunting?"

"When you came up behind me... I'm so sorry about that."

What was in her that always prevented her from worrying about her and always about everyone else?

Besides I didn't understand why she was apologizing. "Why are you apologizing to me? I'm the one who was horribly careless. I assumed no one would be so far from the trails, but I should have checked first. Such a stupid mistake! You have nothing to apologize for."

Again, her next words were so unexpected as her actions were. "But I growled at you!"

I almost smiled but I held myself. "Of course you did. That's only natural. But I can't understand how you ran away."

It would be a mystery it seemed. Like everything that happened in her mind.

"What else could I do?" her face and tone turned a bit confusing. It must be, maybe it sounded like if I would've wanted to happen the opposite. "It might have been someone I know."

As if that were possible! We were almost in Canada...

Her answer and her tone made me laugh, but to me it sounded a little relieved that nothing had happened that Bella would have regretted. All her worry about this part of being a newborn vampire, and it seemed there was no need.

She could be the Bella I loved without suffered at the beginning the decision of having changed.

"Why are you laughing at me?"

My laugh stopped dead, remembering that she was still a newborn and her mood changes were so sudden that they could be dangerous. Though not even for a second it crossed my mind the idea of Bella attacking me...

It was unbelievably strange to be arguing with Bella about this, in the first place, because I didn't understand how she had done it yet, and another part of me was telling me, forget about it! You won't understand, so don't try.

"I'm not laughing at you, Bella. I'm laughing because I am in shock. And I am in shock because I am completely amazed." I explained to Bella, she wasn't the only one with drastic mood changes. At least that was how they seemed to her.

"Why?" Bella asked me.

I didn't understand why I was so amazed by what she had done. I didn't even understand it myself. But there was an easy way to explain some of what I felt.

"You shouldn't be able to do any of this. You shouldn't be so... so rational. You shouldn't be able to stand here discussing this with me so calmly and coolly. And, much more than any of that, you should not have been able to break off mid-hunt with the scent of human blood in the air. Even mature vampires have difficulty with that-we're always very careful of where we hunt so as not to put ourselves in the path of temptation. Bella, you're behaving like you're decades rather than days old."

I explained to her fully detailed, perhaps that way she would understand why I was so surprised.

"Oh," was all she said.

That simple expression was enough to have me again at the edge of insanity for not being able to hear what was really happening in her head.

I raised my hands slowly and put them to each side of her face. It was an incredible sensation having her again like this with me. For a second I almost forgot that we were in the middle of the woods on a hunting trip. Just thinking that I was with my Bella, and her mental silence. "What wouldn't I give to be able to see into your mind for just this one moment."

For a second I forgot about everything, only concentrated on the way I was holding her face between my hands, in her eyes on mine... and then, something changed in her look and I could recognize what I was seeing even when it surprised me to see it, because it was the same feeling that running through me.

Maybe it was not that what I had seen, and it was only my imagination and my own desire making me look what I wanted to look. Her thirst must be what her mind was most busy thinking about at this moment.

I had already convinced of that, when her hand raised and she put it on my face, caressing my features, her fingers on my lips while she spoke. Electric charges passed from her fingers to my lips, and I would have been able to stay that way forever.

"I thought I wouldn't feel this way for a long time?" Bella asked, unsure. "But I still want you."

I felt my eyes blinking when I heard her. Then, if... was... that. How? The shock was stronger than the desire. "How can you even concentrate on that? Aren't you unbearably thirsty?"

Bella tried to swallow, maybe remembering again her thirst, then she sighed as if she would have preferred not to be remembered of that detail. Her eyes closed again, knowing what to do this time with not need of me guiding her.

I could notice that Bella was tense, as if she was expecting the smell of human blood to come again into our path, but I couldn't listen to anything close to anywhere here, not even smell.

Besides, now I was sure that Bella would not have problems with that, and I remembered our daughter, Renesmee. Her hear beat, yes, blood ran through her veins, yes; but there was something in her perfume that made her perfectly balanced between the scent of a human and a vampire.

I didn't doubt Bella. She could meet our daughter before she didn't recognize her.

I let my hands dropped when I caught the scent of a mountain lion, and I cut my own breathing to give place to Bella first.

It would be interesting to see how Bella worked in her first hunting, taking into account all the aspects that I had already seen. She seemed to have some kind of super control over her emotions, her thirst... she was doing it so much better than what I would have never imagined.

Bella had been so frightened about her first months as a newborn, that she had risked her life just to do something things that she thought she couldn't do at the beginning after her change, only to enjoy them better. And now, surprising even the most experienced of us, Jasper, she was almost skipping this stage. What more surprises could I wait from her?

I felt a sudden happiness drowning me when I thought of Bella being able to be _normal_ before time, and enjoy and being happy after so much pain and suffering.

Her eyes snapped open, then. She had caught the scent that I had already noticed before. Without saying one word, she turned toward the east and she started running toward the scent of the mountain lion. I followed behind her, letting her take the leadership. Soon enough the ground started to take us upward, while Bella was still following the scent. Bella changed position while she ran, into a hunting crouch, preparing herself. I followed her without making any noise that could disturb her focus.

Little by little the vegetation, that were surrounding us while we were still going upward through the trees, was getting less thick. I could hear the mountain lion, he was hunting too, just like us, he was on one of the branches of a tree waiting for the right moment to finish his prey off.

Bella listened to the same thing, too, she immediately hurried even more upward, taking a spot that gave her some edge against the unlucky animal that my Bella had chosen. She was sinuous, elegant on her movements, I could barely distinguish that she was a newborn of some days old. Her instincts of course, were more powerful now than how they were when she was human.

The mountain lion had not listened to not even a whisper of our feet over the branches of the trees, not even had felt that someone were following him, his concentration was absorbed on his prey.

I felt a pang of anxiety when I realized that Bella would be facing that huge mass of muscles and strength that were easily the double of Bella's size. My logic was screaming at me that there was nothing I had to worry about, Bella was even stronger than me in that moment. But my reactions were all directed and almost positioned toward protecting Bella.

I had spent all this time fighting with everything in this world to keep her alive, and she was about to get herself in front of a mountain lion.

And then, without expecting it, Bella jumped on the branch in which the mountain lion was about to make his move, too. The branch shuddered with the soft fall of Bella on it, and the mountain lion turned around rapidly to see what it was that was interrupting him. His natural instincts were telling him that we were predators like him, and his mouth opened to let out a growl. His claws hit the air between them, threatening to attack if she got any closer.

Just that the mountain lion's prey wasn't what Bella was looking after, but him.

Bella launched herself at him, without minding the growls of the mountain lion, and in just a moment she was on him. The animal tried to defend himself, his claws clawed through all Bella's body trying to get free of her hold.

I leaned on a branch that was on the ground, where Bella and the animal had fallen. All the time holding back the urgency of running to her and taking the animal off her, every time its claws squeaked against her steal skin and his pangs tried to cut through to her shoulder or her throat, I had an anxiety attack every second of it.

I tried to control that mechanism in me that begged me to get Bella away from such animal, because as soon as the mountain lion stopped his fight and his growls were fading away each time more.

Bella's teeth cut through the skin of its throat to the depth into the running blood that Bella so much wanted in that instant. While Bella was hurriedly drinking and leaving dry the body of the mountain lion, I tried to keep my face blank, expressionless.

It was an unnecessary worry.

I could see how her cheeks were turning a little flushed with the blood that was now filling her body, the shadows under her eyes were a little less visible, though the color of her eyes didn't change.

Bella let the carcass of the animal dropped, and by her expression and the strength she used, I could notice that she did it unsatisfied, her thirst was surely still bothering her. She was young after all. And, it had only been _one_ mountain lion. We spent days out hunting while we fed before returning. Although it would've been a bear, Bella would still be thirsty.

Bella stood, and then, her eyes ran through her body after cleaning her mouth with the inside of her arm. Her dress had ended tore up into pieces, almost.

I remembered Alice's vision, I had like what I had seen, but this was even better. "Hmm." I murmured, attracting Bella's attention.

I barely contained the need of flying to her side and having her with me again, but she was still thirsty, I would give her a chance. But if looking at her in her old holy sweat pants Bella made me want her, what could she expect from me in that moment?

Control yourself! I told myself.

"I guess I could have done that better." Bella commented, misunderstanding my expression.

Even when her hair was all knotted and full of earth, her clothes all stained with earth and blood, and almost leaving entirely uncovered her body… I stopped dead my thought, and focused on what she had said.

"You did perfectly fine. It's just that… it was much more difficult for me to watch than it should have been."

Bella raised an eyebrow, clearly confused by what I had said.

My naïve Bella. What did she expect from me? Hadn't Alice told her once that I was just the teeniest bit prone to overreaction?

Well, with her it would never be the exception, because I had learned to overreact being with her. Or maybe this would be part of me, being a teenager would be my character back then and it would stay frozen this way in my, no changes.

There would be the need of trying to change a bit, Bella didn't need anymore of my protection against these animals or even against any human that crossed her path.

There was just one specie, well two, that could hurt her.

Our specie, vampires; and werewolves.

"It goes against the grain, letting you wrestle with lions. I was having an anxiety attack the whole time." I explained to Bella.

I could almost hear her answer before time.

"Silly." Bella told me.

Yes, it was completely true. It should worry me most the animal than her. Ha! Like that was possible.

"I know. Old habits die hard. I like the improvements to your dress, though."

I waited for the blood rushing to her face and betray her embarrassment to my comment, and then I remembered that that would never come again and give her that beautiful red color to her cheeks. Her heart wouldn't be able to betray her. Just her breathing.

I would have to learn to read her expressions again.

It didn't bother me at all, as long as it was me watching her wouldn't be a problem to me.

Instead of answering to my comment, Bella changed the subject. "Why am I still thirsty?"

"Because you're young." I explained to her.

Bella sighed when she heard my answer. She was still young, maybe she would wonder how long would it take her to control her thirst enough to not need so much blood.

"And I don't suppose there are any other mountain lions nearby."

It was lucky to have found one, I had always to track them down carefully when I was hunting… so no, the answer was no.

"Plenty of deer, though."

Bella grimaced, and I understood why. It was the same expression that she had had when she caught the scent of those deer before she crossed to the human scent.

"They don't smell as good," Bella told me.

"Herbivores. The meat-eaters smell more like humans."

"Not that much like humans." Bella said.

Of course I knew perfectly well the difference. I had more years in this path and I knew that human blood was almost impossible to resist, so it could not have that much alikeness to animal blood.

Then I remembered, and decided that it'd be healthy and almost safe to joke around about it. "We could go back," I tried to make sound my voice less serious, as if I were really meaning it. "Whoever it was out there, if they were men, they probably wouldn't even mind death if you were the one delivering it." I told her, while my eyes ran all through her body again, the reason, mostly for her to understand what I was meaning, and the other part was because it was almost impossible for me not to see her. "In fact, they would think they were already dead and gone to heaven the moment they saw you."

Bella snorted, she clearly was still thinking it was impossible that someone could consider her beautiful, even when she herself had seen the reflection of her inhuman beauty. Her eyes rolled, before telling me. "Let's go hunt some stinking herbivores."

We were coming back home when we ran into a pack of deer. They were enough to hunt both of us this time.

Beside it was already time for me to hunt too, I had five weeks without hunting, since Bella and I had gotten back from Isle Esme when we found out about her pregnancy. The memory was now almost a confusion and mix of glee and pain, all at the same time. The dominant feeling was happiness, now that I could truly enjoy of the outcome of all this suffering.

Bella was at my side, strong and existing with me. For all the eternity.

From my peripheral sight I was looking at Bella while she was finishing with the male deer she had caught, her _tactic_ or the way in which she ended with it wasn't very different than with the mountain lion a minutes ago, she ended up being the same mess than before. It reminded to the way Emmett ended up, and he had decades of practice with this, almost as much as I did.

So it wasn't strange to me seeing that Bella finished that way.

I finished with the first one and I could see that Bella was still drinking the blood of her first prey at the moment. It seemed it was going to take her some time, so I caught a second animal before finishing it almost immediately.

Though they were not big and they didn't satisfy me as much as the blood of the meat-eaters, especially a mountain lion, which was my favorite… I remembered they day in which Bella and I talked about this, more than a year ago in a school morning in the cafeteria.

"_So, what's your favorite?"_ she had asked me. I could remember that I had considered her tone and the way in which she discussed so calmly with me about that subject, as if instead of being discussing about which was my favorite restaurant.

"_Nothing more fun than an irritated grizzly bear."_ She had commented when I had told her that Emmett preferred the grizzly bears just after they had come out of hibernation.

Every answer of her surprised me and irritated me at almost the same time. Her reactions were so wrong. Of course, now she being a vampire herself as I was, her questions seemed a guide before making practice.

"_Are you like a bear, too?"_ her voice had come out in barely a whisper.

"_More like the lion, or so they tell me. Perhaps are preferences are indicative."_ I had told her.

I remembered then, that it seemed that her favorite was becoming the same lion that I liked, another characteristic in common between us.

The thought made me smile when I was done with the second deer.

Bella was done with hers almost at the same time, but I felt her look on my when I started with the third one.

It was an almost tinkling sensation, as if the electric currents were running through me with more force while her eyes got through my figure. I tried not to get distracted while her eyes didn't release me. I felt the same sensation than the first time, by just feeling someone looking at me, instead of seeing myself through that someone's look. It was exciting, but just like that time, I knew that it only excited me because they were _her_ eyes.

I was done even faster than usual, hurrying to see with my own eyes her face, her expression. Maybe she was considering how she looked at me now that she was able to see me hunting with her own eyes without the danger of me losing control and… I could not even consider it possible! I shuddered inside by just thinking that I could have hurt her if she would have been human in this very moment.

I turned to see her when I was done, and her look was full of… delight? Pleasure? I didn't understand her expression.

"No longer thirsty?" I asked her, she had stopped hunting to see me.

Bella shrugged, and told me. "You distracted. You're much better at it than I am."

Of course I was, my naïve Bella.

"Centuries of practice." I told her, while I smiled at her.

"Just one," Bella corrected me. Rightly, of course. Because in reality, it was less than a century.

I laughed, when I considered how much difference was between us, and how much longer would we have to be together after this. "Are you done for today? Or did you want to continue?"

"Done, I think."

I was almost sure, listening to her answer, that her thirst must still be very present than turned off, of course it was impossible to turn it off, not even drinking human blood our thirst never gave up for a moment, but the sensation, the taste… I didn't even want to remember my days in which I had fed on humans, if I could call them humans. They were almost the same or more monsters than how we considered ourselves.

At this moment, I could assure without a doubt in my mind, that for the first time I could thank with all my being to Carlisle for having given me life when I was about to die.

Even my mother, too. If she hadn't made the decision of asking, almost demanding to Carlisle saving me with all the resources he had, now I could consider that my mother knew what the doctor that attended us was something more, not a human, maybe she didn't know what he actually was, but she was aware that he was something more. It reminded me of Bella.

I was thankful to both, if they hadn't wished that I were still living, I would have never met Bella, experienced the love for a person and that that person loved me back.

And even though all of this seemed to me taken more from like a horror story than a fairytale, with Bella and Renesmee with me, this would take the shape of a fairytale. With two very beautiful angels, how could there not be a happy ending?

Bella interrupted my thoughts, and there was something in common between hers and mine. "I want to see Renesmee." She asked me.

I was sure than now there was no danger that Bella could meet our daughter, it was her right after all, and like the one who could not deny anything at all to Bella, I gave in to her. Maybe there was nothing in this moment that I could deny to her, except that she could not meet our daughter. That, I would never be able to give her as an answer a _you can't_. The only thing I was thinking about in that instant was in the moment in which mother and daughter would finally see each other, that could tell and share that love to each other. To have my both angels together, my family united at the end.

What more happiness could this day give me?

I outstretched my hand in her direction, waiting for her to take it in hers. When she intertwined hers in mine, her skin felt even warmer than before, with the blood yet running through, the warm was still present in her inside, and it was almost like holding my human Bella. Even better, the electric charges that were always running through me when I was with her, or had her skin against mine, we running through me now, but they were stronger and more intense, pure pleasure.

Bella kept her eyes on mine, while I was losing myself into hers, too. Because though the color had changed completely, the depth of her being was still present t there.

Her hands were suddenly touching and caressing my face while she was waiting for me to answer her request. There was nothing more than love in her eyes, and anxiety, she was maybe waiting for me to tell her what she wanted. I had no way to know.

And then, without imagine, Bella stretched up, and I could see when her lips were going to. It had been too long sin I had kissed them every time I wanted, and all the doubts and the waiting had been left behind. Now they were mine for all eternity.

And like everything mine was hers…

I could how she was trying to move carefully, but I didn't want her to think that I preferred she kept herself away while she was learning to control her strength than to be in her arms. So when her arms wrapped around me, I could feel that she was doing it the most softly way possible so she wouldn't _hurt me_. So I, tired and more than anything, longing to being able to leave all the fears completely behind us, those that so much tormented me thinking that I could hurt or even kill her if I wasn't careful, I banished that memory quickly from my mind, and remembered that my Bella would be with me for the entire eternity, thinking on that excited me, I wrapped my own arms around her waist, and pulled her toward my body, I remembered this from her human time. Pulling her against my chest, my hands on her back tightening her body more against mine, leaning down to touch her lips…

It was a completely different sensation to me, the freedom that I felt by kissing Bella with all my intensity, no restrictions, having Bella safe in my arms. Now more than ever, Bella was safe in my arms wrapped around her. My hands were no longer hard, cold and more than everything, dangerous over her body.

My hands could run all over her face, I could run my fingers through her hair, I could caress her and kiss her with all the love I had held back for so long.

There was nothing that could restrict me.

For the first time I could enjoy of her kisses without fearing of adventuring inside of her, there was no fear of hurting her or poisoning her. The electric charges I felt by touching and experiencing for the first time her tongue, I shuddered inwardly, enjoying everything what neither her nor me had been able to before.

For the first time in all my existence, I wouldn't have free time to anything at all but Bella, and I forced myself to remember Renesmee, our daughter.

It was hard work trying to focus or even remember anyone else, having Bella in my arms.

Maybe I wouldn't be the _know-it-all_ anymore as Emmett said, who cared if I spoke Chinese if I had Bella with me?

I, certainly, did not.

Her hands started to intertwine in my hair, distracting me from my thoughts, her hand were running over my chest while she kissed me. All those emotions only made me remember again, that Bella was with me, and it would be a long eternity, instead of being only seventy or eighty years long. The emotion that caused me, made me throw myself more into the kiss.

Bella, of course, as if her reactions were still of a human, started to kiss me with more emotion, only that now I didn't have a good enough reason to stop her.

I didn't, but maybe the fall did. Suddenly, I felt air blowing around us while we were falling to the ground.

I laughed, when I realized of the power I still had over her. Her reactions were still so humans, and I was glad about it. She was my Bella.

"Oops," Bella said, making me laugh more. "I didn't mean to tackle you like that. Are you okay?"

I considered her question, without really thinking on the answer while I caressed her face. "Slightly better than okay."

Than I remembered, that there was only one more thing that could make this day perfect. "Renesmee?" I asked, trying to remind her that that was what a moment she'd wanted to do, to meet our daughter before we let ourselves get distracted.

Bella kept quiet for a second, thinking, and for that little instant I almost thought she would wait another while to come back and…

I would not have refused, of course.

Being with her, it was almost the biggest desire I felt in the moment, but I also longed for our daughter, Ness-Renesmee, that nickname was sticking to my mind like glue.

I wondered quickly, what Bella would think of it.

"Renesmee." Bella said, her tone was sad somehow. As if she wished that there was another way to take longer in coming back without costing her hard work for her wish of seeing Renesmee.

She got on her feet while she pulled me up with her.

Suddenly, all the memories I had of Renesmee were running through my mind, and I was anxious to have them together, too.

Bella and Renesmee, my wife and my daughter.

Who would have thought!

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	23. Chapter 22, PROMISED

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Chapter 22. PROMISED

Seeing that emotion and adoration in Bella's eyes while I pronounced the name of Renesmee, and she asked me to take her with her, to take her to the meeting of our daughter, caused me another current of love through all my system. Remembering how much Bella had fought to give Renesmee life, to have her with us for the eternity by her side, her mother, by my side, her father. Simply by her family's side, it infected me the excitement and it had me nervous to see this fulfilled.

Renesmee had been as anxious as I saw Bella now to meet her, to be in her mother's arms. Her thoughts had been getting every time clearer and clearer, now it was almost as listening to an adult instead of a baby, and each of her thought had a melancholic or sad tone, and I could easily guess the reason behind it. She didn't have her mom with her.

That was about to change.

"Tell me about her." Bella asked me, while I took her hand.

We were on our way to home, back towards what she most wanted at this moment. Her face and each second that I had held her in my arms, that she had showed me every instant of her short life, every moment I wasn't with her crossed my mind in flashes.

"She's like nothing else in the world." I explained to her while more images crossed through my mind non-stopping. The instant in which I had her in my arms when she was born, when she saw Bella for the first time, when Rosalie brought her back to me, and as soon as she saw me her eyes shined with recognition, the moment in which her little hands touched my chest and started playing with my fingers when she knew she was in her father's arms, the moment in which that sweet melody formed itself just by looking at her, how much she'd liked it…

There was so much to remember and so much I wanted so much to remember later, the image of Bella with our daughter in her arms was what I most longed to.

"How much is she like you? How much like me? Or like I was, anyway."

I remembered her chocolate brown eyes, her warm and blushed skin, her breathing and most importantly the beats of her heart, her skin was as hard as ours, her thirst for the blood, her strength.

"It seems a fairly even divide."

"She was warm-blooded." Bella told me.

"Yes. She has a heartbeat, though it runs a little bit faster than a human's." I explained while I remembered the moment I had noticed it. "Her temperature is a little bit hotter than usual, too. She sleeps."

Her dreams were so beautiful, that I wished for the moment in which Bella had her opportunity to see them for herself with the unique talent of Renesmee.

"Really?"

"Quite well for a newborn. The only parents in the world who don't need sleep, and our child already sleeps through the night." I chuckled, another characteristic she had gotten from her beautiful mother.

Remembering that similarity, I remembered another one, almost or more important than the other one. Certainly more accurate, and gave her the perfect touch. "She has exactly your color eyes – so that didn't get lost, after all." I smiled at her. How many times had I thought of how much I would miss seeing her beautiful chocolate brown eyes? And now I would have them both for the eternity, wouldn't I? "They're so beautiful."

It had to be that way, I tried to shake off my fears so I wouldn't upset Bella before time.

"And the vampire parts?"

"Her skin seems as impenetrable as ours. Not that anyone would dream of testing that."

Bella blinked, her eyes filled with shock. I considered my words, and decided to compensate.

"Of course no one would." I decided to continue with another of her characteristics. "Her diet… well, she prefers to drink blood. Carlisle continues to try to persuade her to drink some baby formula, too, but she doesn't have much patience with it. Can't say that I blame her – nasty-smelling stuff, even for human food."

Bella stayed open-mouthed when she heard my words. I remembered again, that Bella didn't have any idea that Renesmee was so much more intelligent and was much more developed than a normal baby.

Not even during her pregnancy had, this, been a topic of conversation. The only one I had told was Jacob Black.

I had to control myself again, when I thought of that dog.

"Persuade her?" Bella asked.

"She's intelligent, shockingly so, and progressing at an immense pace. Though she doesn't speak –yet– she communicates quite effectively."

"Doesn'.Yet."

I decided to slow down our speed, we weren't very far away and Bella still had to understand a few things.

How could affect knowing all of this? But she had to be concentrated in our daughter and not in her _abnormal_ characteristics.

Renesmee was perfect in every sense, beyond perfect. Only Bella could have procreated such perfection. And somehow, I had been a part of that.

"What do you mean, she communicates effectively?"

I had no idea of how to explain to her in the right way, I myself had not understood it, thought for different reasons, if Rosalie hadn't told me with her words, I may still be thinking that my family could read minds. How could I have guessed what Renesmee did?

"I think it would be easier for you to… see for yourself. It's rather difficult to describe."

Bella became silent for a moment, perhaps thinking on that I had just told her. It was the most certain thing.

There was just one subject I rather Bella didn't get to, yet.

But, of course, as if she could read my mind and knew what was the only thing I didn't want to talk about, that just remembering made me upset, Bella decided to ask about that dog.

I told myself that it was just normal, for what she had seen and listened before Bella jumped across the river and we started our hunting trip, she had listened to that dog inside the house, and before that I had confirmed he was, that Renesmee was with him, and Rosalie. I would _never, ever_ allow that he were alone with my daughter.

Never.

"Why is Jacob still here? How can he stand it? Why should he?" her voice shook a little bit while she was asking me. She didn't have any idea that his feelings for her had vanished as quickly as they probably had come. That he had betrayed and left her the first moment he thought her dead, that all his promises had disappeared when he had seen our daughter. "Why should he have to suffer more?"

Her question activated my ire even more.

Suffer? Right now I didn't even know if at some moment he had really suffered by seeing her on that bed all bled-out while I _tried_ to force her heart to keep beating.

No, I told myself, he did suffer.

I was trying very hard not to hate him, to not consider that he never loved Bella, because I knew he had loved her.

But how had he dared to consider once that he loved Bella more than I did?

"Jacob isn't suffering." Not anymore. What I wouldn't give to change his status! Anyway, if it weren't for the fact that hurting Jacob would imply hurting Renesmee, too. Damn it. "Though I might be willing to change his condition." The words barely made it out of my mouth.

The hatred, rather, ire I felt toward him was almost uncontrollable.

Somehow, maybe because of all the years I had trying to control my emotions, I got to keep myself a bit serene in this moment.

The memories of the moment in which Renesmee showed me when she saw Jacob and how were her feelings for him…

It was simply unbearable to consider the idea of our _daughter_ to be now destined to be with the man that for so long time had been trying to force Bella to choose him instead of me.

How long had he tried to take her away from me?

Though he never succeeded, he had tried. Now he wanted Renesmee, our daughter.

What was wrong with that dog?

The only thing that kept me from killing him, were rather two things, he himself and Renesmee. What I cared the most was Renesmee, she would suffer if that dog stopped existing, and being able to see that Jacob only wanted her as a _sister_ for now, that he only wanted her to be happy. But later…

"Edward!" Bella almost growled and pulled me from my arm, forcing me to stop, luckily, because she interrupted my thoughts. The path they were taking was not so good for that dog.

"How can you say that? Jacob has given up everything to protect us!" Oh, of course he has. And that only made it worse. Knowing how much we owed him. "What I've put him through-!" Bella shuddered, and for once, I didn't want to know what was going through her mind.

Memories of mine that had caused me as much pain as to him passed through my mind, even when I tried not to see them.

But again, the sympathy I could feel toward him, disappeared when I remembered his _imprinting_ on our daughter. "You'll see exactly how I can say that." Just because of that stupid promise he made me make I shut at this moment. It might be better, if Jacob told her, not me right this moment, there wouldn't be an opportunity to calm down… "I promised him that I would let him explain, but I doubt you'll see it much differently than I do." But when did I get her emotions right? "Of course, I'm often wrong about your thoughts, aren't I?" my lips twitched, considering the idea of Bella going to be agreeing to that and happy about it.

"Explain what?" Bella asked.

I shook my head, I had promised and I had to fulfill, though I was having a hard time trying to not tell her when she asked me to. "I promised. Though I don't know if I owe him anything at all anymore…" my teeth ground together, holding back a growl threatening to come out.

Images of Jacob with Renesmee in her arms crossed my mind, and made my try to not growl even more difficult, though some way I controlled myself. Yet to do it even harder, I was having a hard time keeping _secrets_ from Bella when what I couldn't tell her, was precisely what Bella was almost begging me to tell her, to deny her those words, that truth, was almost criminal to me.

When had I decided to promise this to Jacob?

The conversation we had passed through my mind.

"_Please, Edward. Let me be the one to tell Bella. I think it'd be the best."_ Jacob had told me just a few hours before Bella woke up.

"_Why should I wait for you to tell her? She has a right to know-"_

"_She does, of course. But this… well, isn't easy. And I think it'd be easier if I tell her."_

Through his mind had passed several reasons he had to tell Bella himself, while through my mind passed other ideas of why should it be who told her.

First of all, I did not want to deny Bella anything if she asked me.

Secondly, I did not know if I owed Jacob something now. From my point of view, what he had done for my family was not enough to accept that I owed him my gratitude. It wasn't just having imprinted on Renesmee, but the entire betrayal toward Bella, especially.

Even before he saw Renesmee, he had _abandoned_ Bella. He had declared her dead, when her heart still had the hope of living…

"Edward, I don't understand." Bella told me, her tone and her expression reflecting her frustration, and if I wasn't wrong, some of indignation.

It was so difficult to me, I really did not want to keep this situation from Bella, but, what could I do?

I did make good on my word, unlike that dog.

I remembered how her expressions and her mind got distracted now even more easily than when she was human. My touch had always caused something in her, and being now a vampire, her reactions were stronger.

I raised my hand, and caressed her cheek softly. My fingers stayed on her face until this became softer. I smiled a little, we still had the same effect on both of us, because the electric charge was passing through her face to my hands…

"It's harder than you make it look, I know. I remember."

"I don't like feeling confused." Her words almost hurt me in an unconscious way.

The only thing I wanted in that moment, was to taker her to Renesmee, at least when meeting her she would forget about her confusion for a moment and she would be completely happy. We would be completely happy, the three of us.

"I know. And so let's get you home, so that you can see it all for yourself."

Speaking of seeing, my eyes ran over her body, and the remnants of her pretty dress that Alice had almost implored to me to take care of.

Of course, with just seeing the outcome of her dress once she hunted, I hadn't feel like listening to Alice. If it were for me, I would have her this way for the rest of the day, until it wasn't necessary anymore to be wearing it…

But, the entire family was home, Alice would have a heart attack when she saw her, if it were possible. Emmett, I didn't even want to think on his reaction, instead of thinking a lion had done that to Bella, he would think we had taken a little bit more of time to come back, not that I cared.

"Hmm." I said, while I considered that.

And everyone else, well, I really didn't care.

But she would go to meet Renesmee, and her appearance ought to be a little more… maternal. Her daughter would have this image forever in her mind, and the first meeting was very important to both of them.

The only option was to give her my shirt, and now the one who'd be distracted would be Bella instead of me with her body covered with a shredded dress…

I could almost see her cheeks blushing while I took my hands toward the buttons of my shirt, and the moment brought to my mind a moment of anticipation almost pleasant, as it had been that night in Isle Esme before leaving the room and leaving Bella with her minute to be human.

I shuddered internally, as if the outcome of this were going to the same one from that night.

I held it in one hand and outstretched it toward her so she'd get her arms in. I had to hold back the feeling of simply throwing aside my shirt, and…

No, we are on our way home. Bella has to meet our daughter, Renesmee. I reminded myself before losing the little control I had left.

"That bad?" Bella asked me when she saw what I was doing.

I only smiled at her, a bit ashamed of the answer to be a different one. Because it wasn't bad at all from my perspective…

Bella shrugged in the shirt, and then buttoned it really quickly. Just a few weeks ago it would've taken her much more time and even a harder work.

I had only seen Bella in my clothes once before, two years ago, in Port Angeles. That night she had told me she knew what I was and my family, and she didn't care. And now, she was here being part of my family, and a vampire herself.

Things had changed much quicker than I had ever imagined they would.

Now we were in front a path of eternity before us, and with more members to this family than anyone would have ever dreamed of being.

"I'll race you." Bella told me, and I expected her next words. "No throwing the game this time!"

It was to be expected that she told me that, now I couldn't hope for her to forget details like this one.

I dropped her hand, and grinned at her. It was fascinating to see how she molded to this life so fast. "On your mark…"

Before Bella had even time to blink, I was already ahead of her for several meters. I could feel her running behind me. The sound of the wind being interrupted while we ran through, the acceleration of the heart of every creature that was into her path while she followed me, the sound of the leaves flying away out of her path with her footsteps, her breathing…

A part of me, was telling me to stop, because a part of me felt as if I were running away by sprinting ahead. It was silly, I knew, but I could not help it.

Just knowing that I wasn't actually escaping from her, that would never happen, and that both were going to the meeting of our family, of Renesmee, stopped me from throwing the game as Bella had warned me not to do.

While we were getting again to the river, I slowed down a little when I heard the thoughts of Jacob and the other two wolves, my family was still inside of the house, waiting for us.

_Here they're coming,_ Jacob though when he heard us getting closer. _This' got to be the best way. Yes, I'm not risking Nessie. Bella might be her mother, but…_

Bella jumped across the river before I did, and for a thousandth of a second my mind was interrupted.

"Ha!" I listened to Bella say at the same time that her feet touched the ground.

Her mood and expression changed immediately. She had listened to Jacob, but hadn't seen him.

His heart.

I jumped across in half a second, and was immediately by her side. I put my hands on her arms in case she couldn't control herself.

Just for precaution, I convinced myself. Bella was not going to do anything. The heart and the blood of Jacob called us, but when smelling it we got away. There was nothing appealing in his odor.

But, since Bella woke up she hadn't had what it's called normal reactions in a newborn? What if she attacked him?

Better to be cautious.

"Don't breathe." I whispered to her, suddenly worried that Bella were going to find him tasty.

While I was realizing that Bella was controlled and that she would allow me restrict her so she weren't going to do something she didn't want, I remembered what Jacob was thinking.

Bella might be her mother, but? But what? What was he going to do? Prevent Bella from seeing her daughter, Renesmee from being carried by her mother? As is _that_ I were going to allow it. He would be imprinted on our daughter, but that didn't give him exclusive rights on Renesmee.

Then I saw Bella with her eyes on Jacob.

He was standing on the edge of the frontal garden of the house, for what I could hear, he didn't want to get more away and leave Renesmee too far away.

He had crossed his arms over his chest, showing his discontent with what was about to happen. His lips were tight, trying not to speak before it was time, and mostly, not to tell or demand to Bella to not step closer to Renesmee…

I myself had to control. If I could have, I would have taken him out of the house with a kick on his butt, as I had once threatened him to do with Leah is she ever hurt Bella again. Jacob wasn't very far off the mark.

Seth and Leah were behind him, among the bushes. Seth was yelling at me and begging me to not do something stupid. That we were a _family_ now.

_If she can't control herself with me, I will not allow her to hurt Nessie…_

"Carefully, Jacob." I told him, listening to what he was thinking. I didn't like to even imagine that that would happen. Bella had done incredibly well with those hunters.

They were strangers, and Bella could hold back. So I was certain that she would do perfectly well with our daughter. She had to meet her. I knew that Renesmee was anxious for this meeting to come.

Seth growled when he heard me. _No, Edward. Take care of Bella, and Jacob. I know you're upset with him, but it's really not something we can control. This is a bad idea. What if she attacks him?_

That was not going to happen. Plus, this idea hadn't been my family's, but Jacob's. If Jacob wanted Bella to attack him, I wasn't getting in her way.

Although, again, I knew it wouldn't happen.

Hesitation crossed my mind in an instant, because though I wished Bella attacked Jacob for what he had done, in this moment she wouldn't for that reason.

What if her super control had run out?

"Maybe this isn't the best way-"

Jacob interrupted me, in his mind was nothing but Renesmee's face. "You think it would be better to let her near the baby first? It's safer to see how Bella does with me. I heal fast."

I didn't answer him; I could feel Bella tensing when she listened to Jacob's words. She had noticed this was a test, surely.

The only thing I was begging she knew was that this was not my idea. I trusted on her totally, almost blindly. I would never put her at test. But, also, I knew that this was very strange for her. I didn't think she'd understand why Jacob would do this, without knowing that he was now _in love_ with our daughter, and not her.

_C'mon, Edward! You don't want to put Nessie in danger, either. This is a good idea… I'll know how to defend myself from a bite, she can do whatever she wants and nothing'll happen to me. We don't know how Nessie'd react._

All the worry I was feeling, banished with every word that I was listening from his mind, everything turning into rage.

Of course I worried about Renesmee. I could almost hear under his words, or don't you care about Nessie?

So I just shrugged. I didn't worry about what happened to him. Though I knew deep down I should worry a little bit, not for him, but for Renesmee. "It's your neck, I guess."

_It is, and I'll put it as long as Nessie is sure after this._

What bothered me the most, was that deeply in his mind I could see, that he really didn't care if Bella passed his stupid test or not, anyways, he didn't want Bella near Renesmee. He didn't believe her to be completely controlled. That didn't make me feel for him even respect.

Leah growled this time, and I completely ignored her. It didn't matter which words we used, it didn't matter if we accepted Jacob in our family or whatever, Leah would always hate us. So I ignored her.

_Leah, stay out of this. It's not of your business._ Jacob thought when he heard Leah.

His eyes were on Bella this time, and Bella was looking at him too. I quickly wondered if Bella still felt attracted or somehow toward him as before her change.

But in both their eyes, of course, I didn't see anything more than friendship.

For a part I was glad that Jacob had imprinted.

I wouldn't have to keep fighting throughout all eternity against him for the love of Bella, even when she was now with me and would be so until the end.

Knowing, that either him or her, felt anything that could hurt any one of the three of us as it had just a few moths ago. Simply remembering that I had been about to lose Bella, and it would have been forever, because Renesmee would have never been born and Jacob would have never imprinted, caused me such an amazing pain.

I could be grateful that he had imprinted, but, why with our daughter, why Renesmee?

Jacob was still, watching would be the best word, Bella, while my thoughts followed a not so pleasant road. The subject of Renesmee and Jacob wasn't my favorite one.

But I still had left knowing if Bella would agree with this.

_Her skin is still just as white, it almost don't seem unnatural, her hair's the same one, and I could swear that in this moment her skin would seem a little blushed… it's the same Bella I know. My best friend. She looks _prettier_, but that's because of the vampire thing. But she's still her._

Jacob was thinking of Bella, seeing her now and remembering the many times he had thought that by changing Bella he wouldn't look at her the same way.

_Unbelievable. My best friend, and nothing more._

Jacob grinned hugely when he realized all of this. Though he had known all along that when he saw Bella again he wouldn't feel the same thing he did before the imprinting, it was amazing how everything changed so fast and absolutely.

In front of him he didn't look anything more than her best friend, Bella.

There was no attraction, there was no love as he once had felt and swore to have for Bella until her life ended, there was not an endless ocean of grief.

It was a complete relief. Did Bella feel the same way?

But while I looked at Bella'd face and to every change in her expression from Jacob, I could see, according to what I thought, that there were no reasons for my fear.

I listened to my family inside the house, they had been so quiet and still that I hadn't taken notice of them. I had been so worried and intent on Bella and this stupid test of Jacob that I hadn't listened to them.

Renesmee was just a few steps from us, and from a few minutes of knowing her mother. From being in her arms as it was supposed to be.

Again, neither Jacob nor Bella said anything. Jacob's eyes got intent on Bella's, remembering the chocolate brown that we so liked both, and now her eyes were shining red. This new characteristic in her physique was the only thing that told him that Bella was actually another one, according to the way he saw her. I was glad, for a part, that Jacob could see her as what she was, the same Bella he had loved, that I still loved and would always love for all eternity.

The smile on Jacob's face got bigger, and then he shuddered a bit, thinking that the red in her eyes was still there as long as a vampire drank human blood, as Renesmee's. He tried to think that that wouldn't happen, but didn't quite do it. "I gotta say it, Bells. You're a freak show."

Bella smiled hugely when she heard him. I wasn't sure why, but the only thing I listened behind his words were his thoughts.

The moment in which he had considered that Bella's eyes kept red because she would've drunk Renesmee's blood…

So a growl came out of my mouth. "Watch yourself, mongrel."

The wind blew toward us from behind, blowing away the smell of Jacob from us. I heard Bella inhaling quickly in while the air around us was clean.

"No, he's right. The eyes are really something, aren't they?" Bella told us both.

"Super-creepy. But it's not as bad as I thought it would be." Jacob really meant it when he said that. Though Bella might not believe it, but he did.

"Gee-thanks for the amazing compliment!"

_Bella!_ Jacob thought in his mind, the tone that was in the way he said her name, was as if he were listening to the human Bella. He rolled his eyes, and told her. "You know what I mean. You still look like you – sort of. Maybe it's not the look so much as… you are Bella. I didn't it would still feel like you were still here."

Jacob smiled at her again, remembering a bit the days he passed cursing the choice Bella was doing, thinking that he would have lost her forever, that her heart and humanity would be lost. That her best friend would be dead. And now he saw her, and all those feeling weren't in him.

He chuckled, before continue speaking. "Anyway, I'll get used to the eyes soon enough."

According to what he saw, Jacob didn't have planned telling Bella anything at this moment, and by saying that, he just brought the subject up in an inconvenient way.

"You will?" Bella asked genuinely confused.

_He didn't tell her? He really made good on his word?_ Jacob was wondering. _I thought he…_

His mind was filled with different images of Bella and I as leadings, several of them showed a completely enraged Bella because of the news and other ones with Bella congratulating and laughing with Jacob and Renesmee for what had happened.

His smiled faded, and his expression suddenly changed, when he saw the face and the tone of Bella. It was almost very easy to recognize his expression.

Guilt.

His eyes rested on my face. "Thanks. I didn't know if you'd be able to keep it from her, promise or not. Usually, you just give her everything she wants."

"Maybe I'm hoping she'll get irritated and rip your head off." I told him while I internally enjoyed the picture.

Again, the joy was interrupted by the image of Renesmee. Sad, or unhappy of seeing that something wrong happened to Jacob.

Jacob snorted.

_Please, Edward. It's not that bad. You know the only thing I want is for Nessie to be happy…_

Yes, of course. That was the only thing he wanted. For now.

I didn't want to think of Renesmee's future, knowing what was awaiting her, at least in her _love_ life. I didn't even want to think of boyfriends, and I already had to bear the idea that she had found her soul mate the day of her birth.

I didn't see the moment in which Bella knew, though I did not want Bella to do something that would hurt her later, because Jacob was still her friend, after all, I also wished he would get what he deserved.

For the first time, I wished it was me the newborn instead of Bella.

"What's going on? Are you two keeping secrets from me?" Bella asked, she didn't even have idea of what this was about.

Jacob decided, that being he the one of the secret, he should answer Bella.

Well thought, I though. I didn't know if I'd be able to keep it from her any longer. But there were things of more importance than this.

"I'll explain later." Jacob told her.

_I hope Bella take this better than him, and don't hate me as Edward._

I almost snort to his thought.

How could he hope that Bella agreed to this so easily with what had happened? But again, I remembered that Bella never reacted as I expected her to.

She always surprised me. Would she do it this time, too?

Jacob hesitated for a second. _First what's first._

"First, let's get this show on the road." Jacob told her, a huge smile was on his face that was almost teasing.

_C'mon, Bella. Attack me._

He started walking forward toward us, as if were going to attack, too.

When Leah and Seth saw Jacob getting away, they came out from behind him whining for what was happening. Leah, especially, didn't like at all what Jacob was doing.

_If she hurts him, I won't mind ripping her head off myself. Even if her bloodsucker defends her._

Seth was less drastic. _Easy, Jake. You don't need to tease her that way. She won't attack you, will she?_

_No, damn! Don't get into this. Leah!_

"Cool it, guys. Stay out of this." Jacob asked them. He should have known better to know that none of them would listen to him.

_And to let that bloodsucker to kill you in a bite. Yeah, right!_

Jacob kept advancing toward us, with Leah and Seth behind him, the two of them were moving a little slower, but ready to help Jacob if there was a need.

I could listen to Esme and Carlisle mostly, almost screaming at me to prevent Bella from hurting any of the wolves.

Of course, I though. Nobody worried about Bella instead of those dogs?

_She's got to try attack me, so we know that way if Nessie'd fine._ Jacob was thinking while he saw Bella half-frozen by my side.

"C'mon, Bells. Do your worst."

Bella didn't move, and I could listen how she was without breathing.

Leah hissed when she listened to Jacob, and it was more because of disgust of hearing Jacob so careless about what could happen to him, than for fear that Bella hurt him, though there was certainly some of worry.

_Jacob Black, you are officially an idiot!_

"I'm getting old here, Bella." Jacob told her, waiting for Bella to finally make her move. "Okay, not technically, but you get the idea. Go on, take a whiff."

"Hold on to me." Bella asked me, while I felt her cringing into my chest.

It felt so wrong to allow that Bella felt afraid for what Jacob was doing, this had been one of the reasons I had to not want him to make this test to Bella. At the same time I knew nothing was going to happen, I didn't need Alice's visions to know that.

I squeezed a bit my hands on her arms, just for her to feel the change and thought that I would restrict her if necessary. But I knew that it wouldn't.

The smell of Jacob wouldn't appeal to her any more than what appealed her to that human.

His smell was designed to repel us, not attract us.

I felt Bella's muscles tensing, as if she were trying to freeze them so she wouldn't attack him at the moment in which she tasted the air around her.

Then, I just heard her lightly inhaling, the sound almost inaudible.

_Did she try? She inhaled that air or just pretended to?_

Bella took another deeply breath, answering to Jacob's question. I felt her body relaxing under my hands. "Huh." Bella said. "I can see what everyone's been going about. You stink, Jacob."

Though I was expecting her answer, I couldn't help breaking into laughter when Bella said that. Again, her reactions surprised me, and even more her choice of words.

I released her arms and put my hands on her waist.

_Well, she's a vampire now, we can't expect her to like our smell._ Seth thought while he laughed, too.

My family, too, had found that funny, but, of course, Emmett was the one who got loose laughing even louder than I was. I could hear him and surely Bella could, too.

_Of course he stinks. What was my little sister expecting?_

Seth walked closer to Jacob while Leah got away, seeing that the _danger_ had gone.

_Yeah, well, you too stink, bloodsucker._ Leah thought while disappearing.

"Look who's talking." Jacob told her, meantime plugging his nose exaggeratedly.

I embraced Bella completely, then.

All the pieces of our new life were falling together slowly in their places. Everything was going on better than I had ever dreamed.

Bella had been able to get away from the smell of human blood while she was hunting, she was about to meet our daughter without being afraid of attacking her… nothing could go better.

Then I remembered the _little_ secret of Jacob.

_She looks happy, Edward._ Jacob thought.

That was everything that mattered, and there was one thing that I needed to tell her right this moment.

While I hugged her, I leaned into her ear and whispered. "I love you."

Her breathing accelerated just a little bit, I could see her look on Jacob, as if she were expecting to see the resentment or sadness in his face by seeing us this way. But Jacob kept smiling.

"Okay, so I passed, right? Now are you going to tell what this big secret is?" Bella asked.

The expression immediately changed. _Mmm, I don't think it's the moment._

"It's nothing you need to worry about this second…" was everything Jacob told her.

Emmett chuckled. _Now it's coming what we've been waiting for. Bella, please, make me the winner, little sister._

Emmett and his bets.

Bella immediately turned her look toward the house, toward the thin glass window that looked to the garden where we were. All our family was behind it, watching us. Everyone, including Renesmee.

Rosalie got a little nervous when she heard that the test had been finished, that at any moment Bella would walk through the door and reclaim her daughter. The irrational fear that she felt was unnecessary, as if we were going to snatch her from her to never come back.

"Renesmee." Bella whispered, she had surely heard her heart.

I felt her freezing again, with stress this time, I could assure. But I didn't need Jacob's test to know that Bella would do perfectly fine.

The time she had so much longed for had finally arrived.

Renesmee had listened to Bella's voice, and was anxious to see her. Her thoughts were easier to see now, they almost sounded as if they were of an adult's. They weren't anything alike to the whispers I heard when she was still inside of Bella.

"Come and see. I know you can handle this." I told her.

_What! No. I don't think this is a good idea._

Just as I had seen before, Jacob didn't want Bella to come closer to Renesmee… I wasn't going to allow him to decide for me. She was _our_ daughter, not his.

"You'll help me?" Bella told me, her lips were immobile.

"Of course I will." I assured her.

My entire family would get in the middle just to help Bella. To protect Renesmee.

"And Emmett and Jasper – just in case?" the fear that was heard in her voice was almost irrational. She should trust a little bit more on herself and on us.

"We'll take care of you, Bella. Don't worry, we'll be ready. None of us would risk Renesmee. I think you'll be surprised at how entirely she's already wrapped us all around her fingers. She'll be perfectly safe, no matter what." I assured her again.

_Don't worry, Edward. Everything is ready for Bella to meet Renesmee._ Carlisle told me.

Rosalie got tense, waiting. Renesmee was just looking over and trying to see Bella through the glass wall. She listened to our voices, and the only thing she wanted was to see us.

_Mom? Is it mommy?_

Bella took a step forward, and before I could stop it from happening, Jacob was in front of her, preventing her from going farther ahead.

I understood his worry, but not because of that would I say he was right.

"Are you sure, bloodsucker?" her voice sounded more like a plea, but there wasn't anything nor a tone of voice that were going to prevent Bella from walking into the house and meet Renesmee. "I don't like this." You don't have to, I thought. "Maybe she should wait-"

I had already had enough of this dog. If it would have been possible, I would have thrown him away from us so Bella would have free path. "You had your test, Jacob." I reminded him.

_Yes, but…_

"But-"

"But nothing." I interrupted him. His words and his _fears_ were annoying me each time even more. I didn't have the obligation of being nice to him, or accepting that he were close to Renesmee, so he better got out of our way, or there would be trouble. "Bella needs to see our daughter. Get out of her way."

Jacob turned to see Bella, his look full of desperation mixed with fear.

_I really hope you're doing the right thing, bloodsucker. I hope Bella won't hurt Renesmee because I will not stop…_

Jacob didn't finish, he sprinted off toward the house.

I growled. Because I will not stop? What was that supposed to mean? Did he really think I would allow Bella to get close to her to hurt her, that I would take her to Renesmee if I knew there was some danger for her?

I tried to calm down, this wasn't about Jacob.

I tried to concentrate on what was coming. Bella should be as anxious as Renesmee was, and even as I was, for this meeting to finally be real.

I turned to see her, and told her. "Shall we?"

Bella nodded, nervous. I took her hand and we walked toward the house.

I listened to our family moving, changing positions while we were getting nearer. Growing the tension in the room.

At that moment I could already listen with perfect clarity, having my mind focused on Jasper, to every emotion that each member of our family felt. The biggest emotion was still the anxiety, they didn't know how Bella would do, how would she react by smelling the human blood that ran through Renesmee's veins or when she heard her heart, there were just four people inside of the house that worry obsessively over Bella were going to lose her self-control: Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and… Jacob.

Every one else trusted on Bella, as much as I did.

Every one, except Rosalie, formed into line in front of Rosalie and Renesmee who were waiting at the back of the room.

Every second made Rosalie to get more nervous, but I knew that when Bella had Renesmee, everything would fall into its place as the pieces of a puzzle.

There would be no more fears, only happiness.

Bella, more than anyone, not even _my_ happiness mattered, deserved to be happier in this world. If she was happy, I was too. And now, to make even bigger our happiness, Renesmee came in. If both of them were happy, I was too. What else could I ask?

That was my priority.

Jacob got ahead towards Rosalie when he walked in, we were behind him.

The atmosphere in the room was so tense that it was almost ridiculous considering what I had seen with Bella a few hours ago in the woods.

Bella would no hurt Renesmee.

_Edward?_ Jasper called to me, I didn't turn to see him but he knew he had my attention. _Are you sure Bella is in control?_

As soon as Bella saw Rosalie, her eyes didn't part from her when she saw that Jacob stayed by her side as if there weren't problems between them, as if they were _friends_. So I nodded, and Jasper knew I was answering his question.

_Damn, Edward! What did she do to her dress? I want this day to end already, Bella needs to see her new wardrobe immediately._ Alice thought.

Though she was attentive to the future, she was more upset for seeing Bella's dress covered with my shirt and the inferior part shred to pieces.

_Edward, I really hope Bella can control herself. Because I can barely control Nessie._ Rosalie told me, while she was trying to firmly hold Nessie-Renesmee so she wouldn't fall down or something while she leaned over to see Bella.

As soon as I heard her mind, my thoughts focused on her words.

_Daddy!_ Renesmee thought when she saw me, I smiled at her shortly, because then her look focused solely on the image of Bella standing by my side. Images of her birth were going through her mind, comparing the face she was seeing now and the face she'd seen. _Mom? It's mommy finally?_

I listened to Bella gasping while she said. "I was out just two days?"

Her voice, and her emotion was almost pure incredulity.

It was difficult to concentrate on every emotion of Bella and at the same trying to be focused on our daughter. I wanted to know what Bella felt perfectly, how was she and if her control was still intact, but when Renesmee heard Bella, her mind filled with her voice, again, comparing the voice she was listening to now with the voice she had loved from the inside out.

_Yes, it's pretty voice. It's mommy._ Renesmee thought. She clearly knew who Bella was.

A warm current ran through my body when I listened to Renesmee, to see that she knew her without a doubt, that she loved her even when she wasn't in her arms yet as she wanted, I could see it in her mind, that was what she wanted…

Her expression was curious, interested on the person that she saw in front of her, waiting.

_If it's mommy, why isn't she coming? Is she mommy?_

I wanted to answer her, but I saw that she was going to make the same question to Rosalie. She raised her hand towards her throat and I saw the images repeated in Rosalie's mind.

_Yes, she truly knows who she is. It's amazing, Edward._ I smiled at her lightly, though Rosalie didn't see the gesture.

Yes, it was.

Bella still had her eyes intent on the little face of Renesmee, her entire attention was focused on our daughter, so she didn't see everyone else and their expressions.

It was almost exasperating to see them, to see and hear their emotions, her distrust on this moment.

Bella had passed the test as she had said it, hadn't she? So, why couldn't they trust on her a little bit?

With Renesmee's hand still on her neck, Rosalie patted it and told her. "Yes, that's her."

_Mommy! I want my mommy, I want her to come for me._ Renesmee was thinking, while she looked Bella back, her eyes kept looking at Bella for a moment before smiling in the same way I had seen her smiling to me when she were born, and I could assure that Bella had seen the same smile.

_I love you, mommy._

Listening to what Renesmee was thinking, the love she felt for Bella just made me want to be able to listen to what Bella was thinking, I wanted to know what it felt like to finally be in front of her daughter after all this time. I didn't have much time to be frustrated about the fact that that wasn't possible, only a small part of my mind wanted it, while the other wished to finally saw them together.

Bella took a step forward, hesitating. I could see that in the way she moved and the emotion I felt it thanks to Jasper.

Listening to all the thoughts of my family, and even Jasper worrying excessively over the tiny step Bella took got me nervous, too.

Without thinking exactly on what I was doing, I put my hands over her shoulders, protecting more Bella from the overreaction of everyone else than any wrong move that any of them could have foreseen… thinking about visions, I noticed that Alice had been the only one who hadn't moved, having seen that nothing would happen.

But everyone else, Emmett and Jasper moved instantaneously in front of Bella, ready to stop her.

Even Carlisle and Esme had gotten to each side of my brothers, worried.

_Goodness, don't let her do anything that'd hurt someone._ Carlisle and Esme were thinking almost the same thing. They were more worried about the family.

_Edward, be careful with her. She seems to be under control but you never know if she'll fail._ Jasper warned me.

Emmett kept silent, it was easy to understand why he had moved, Rosalie had requested to him to be very careful.

"Oh, give her some credit." Alice told us all when she saw the reaction of everyone to her move. "She wasn't going to do anything. You'd want a closer look, too."

_Even you moved, Edward. What a disappointment, brother._ Alice scolded me.

Alice was right, and I felt ashamed. Though I trusted her, it was my obligation, too, to take care of Renesmee from everyone, though that meant to take care of her from Bella for the moment.

I wouldn't forget myself if Bella failed with her own daughter.

"I'm okay." Bella told me, while she lightly patted the hand I had over her shoulder to make sure that what she was saying was true. "Keep close, though, just in case." Bella finished, her voice less sure than at the beginning.

_Mommy, I want mommy. Now!_ Renesmee was almost demanding for Bella to be with her. Rosalie was trying hard to keep her in her arms, because she was getting more impatient every second.

And this was going on _very_ slow for her taste.

Jasper sent a wave of tranquility toward the entire room, trying to calm everyone down, somehow, it seemed to have no effect on Renesmee who was still struggling against Rose's strength.

I set Bella free when I saw that her emotion was of ease, that seemingly, there was no danger. Still, Jasper was still worried.

Looking to the way Renesmee was almost desperate to be with her mom, I decided to convince everybody that there wasn't any danger from the same I had convinced myself that everything would be absolutely fine.

"Jazz, Em, let us through. Bella's got this." I told them, expecting their refusal.

Jasper didn't disappoint. "Edward, the risk-"

I interrupted him before he continued, it had been enough already. "Minimal. Listen, Jasper – on the hunt she caught the scent of some hikers who were in the wrong place at he wrong time…"

The sound of Carlisle exhaling when he heard me didn't let me finish.

_What! That's not possible, but, but… how?_ Carlisle didn't explain himself nor understood why I had brought this up.

How? If he hadn't let me finish.

_Ah, Edward, son, poor Bella. This must be terrible for her. Her first hunting trip and-_ I tried to shut off what Esme was thinking about. She was thinking that Bella had attacked those strangers.

_Ugh, he couldn't take care of her or prevent that, how does he plan on protecting Nessie?_ Jacob thought, disgusted by what he had just heard.

Everyone had jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Only Emmett and Rose didn't care about that part. Emmett shrugged, and Rosalie was much too busy trying to hold Renesmee.

Jasper nodded. _Go on, Edward. I don't think you're saying this if everything ended up with Bella drinking human blood, aren't you?_

Alice didn't even turn to see me, her eyes were furiously glaring at Bella's dress. What was her problem? We were all concerned about her and her control, and Alice was only seeing Bella's clothing. Even mine, my shirt on Bella, and none on me.

"Edward!" Carlisle got out of his state of shock. "How could you be so irresponsible?"

_It's not just for Bella, son, those hikers. Something bad could have happened._ He had noticed that Bella's eyes were slightly lighter-looking, something that barely noticeable.

"I know, Carlisle, I know. I was just plain stupid. I should have taken the time to make sure we were on a safe zone before I set her loose."

_That's right, Edward. I still cannot believe that you have made such a mistake._

"Edward," Bella whispered, her voice was somehow embarrassed. She still hated being the center of attention and all eyes were on her.

"He's absolutely right to rebuke me, Bella." I said to her, with a smile. Remembering that after all, nothing of what she should be ashamed of, as she seemed to be at that moment had happened. "I made a huge mistake. The fact that you are stronger than anyone I've ever known doesn't change that."

Alice rolled her eyes, still considering what I had said. "Tasteful joke, Edward."

"I wasn't making a joke. I was explaining to Jasper why Bella can handle this. It's not my fault everyone jumped to conclusions."

_It's not a joke?_ I heard everyone thinking.

"Wait. She didn't hunt the humans?" Jasper said, gasping. _Seriously? I thought…_

"She started to." I told him, proud of being able to say that Bella hadn't failed to herself as everyone had thought. And when I heard Bella grinding her teeth together, that only made it a little bit funnier. "She was entirely focused on the hunt."

"What happened?" Carlisle asked, before Jasper did. _Go on, son._

I knew Carlisle would be the most interested, I leaned a bit toward him, and continued. "She heard me behind her and reacted defensively. As soon as my pursuit broke into her concentration, she snapped right out of it. I've never seen anything to equal her. She realized at once what was happening, and then… she held her breath and ran away."

Carlisle and Jasper were so impressed that they didn't say anything. Only Jasper had an incredulity tone.

"Whoa. Seriously?" Emmett said, it didn't surprise me that it was him who spoke.

"He's not telling it right." Bella said, and it confused me a little. But her voice, again, sounded ashamed. "He left out the part where I growled at him."

Oh, now I understood her tone.

"Did ya get in a good couple of swipes?" Emmett asked, anxious to listen to what he wanted to.

"No! Of course not." Bella told him.

_Eh?_ "No, not really? You didn't attack him?"

"Emmett!" Bella said, and I could listen to the same tone in Rosalie. If she would have been closer, she surely would have hit hardly his head.

"Aw, what a waste." He growled, disappointed. "And here you're probably the one person who could take him – since he can't get into your head to cheat – and you had a perfect excuse, too." Emmett sighed, dramatizing as always. "I've been dying to see how he'd do without that advantage."

_You're lucky, little brother. Too much._

"I would never." Bella told him.

Bella turned to see Jasper when she noticed that his forehead frowned.

_This… isn't… it can't… be possible… how does she do it? I don't understand._

He seemed to be frozen, so I punched him on the shoulder to call his attention back, to get it out of his musing. It almost seemed that Jasper was about to collapse. This was too much for him. "You see what I mean?"

"It's not natural." He just said.

"She could have turned on you – she's only hours old!" Esme told me, while she took her hand to her heart. "Oh, we should have gone with you." Esme said, remembering when she had decided not to offer that option earlier.

I didn't said anything, her comment at this point, seemed almost out of place.

Jasper was still undecided, but I saw from his mind how the impatience was growing in Renesmee and now in Bella, too.

I decided to intervene and finish this meeting between my two angels now and for once.

"Edward," Bella interrupted me, I had been about to tell Jasper to calm down, that everything was fine. "Please?"

"Jazz, this isn't anything you've seen before. Trust me." Alice asked him.

It seemed I wouldn't have to say anything. Not now.

Jasper turned to see Alice, and after second he nodded. Plenty trusting on what Alice was telling him.

He got out of the way of Bella, but got behind her putting a hand over her shoulder.

I didn't say anything, after all, they just wanted to protect both of them.

Bella started walking forward too much too slow, and with each step, I could see Renesmee was getting more upset and more because of the time that it was taking.

She had waited too much time to see Bella, that now that she was seeing her in front of her, she only wanted her to hold her in her arms, and spoke to her.

My mind was focused again, in Renesmee and Jasper that was reading every emotion of Bella.

Without expecting what happened, Renesmee began crying.

_Daddy!_ Renesmee yelled in her mind.

Probably, very little likely, anyway, I wouldn't have moved from where I was if Renesmee had not screamed at me in her mind, because it was the first time that any of us listened to her crying, so we were by her side in less than a second.

I caressed her cheek lightly, and she told me everything I already knew. She wanted Bella.

_Mommy, I want mommy. I want mommy, daddy. Now!_

I knew that that was what she wanted, that's why it bothered me when I heard Jacob.

"What's the matter? Is she hurt? What happened?"

I was about to take Renesmee in my arms to take her to Bella as she wanted to, when Jacob raised her off her arms to take her and Rosalie gave her to him.

"No, she's fine." Rosalie answered him.

Again, Renesmee showed what she wanted to Jacob and then she turned toward Bella, her little hand begging and demanding at the same time to be with Bella.

"See? She just wants Bella." Rosalie told him, when she saw Renesmee pointing at Bella.

"She wants me?" I heard Bella saying.

I immediately felt like a criminal for abandoning Bella to be with Renesmee, even more when I turned and saw her on the floor, her eyes seemed to want to cry.

I came back to her side in less than a second, and put my hands on her arms.

"She's been waiting for you for almost three days." I explained to her.

Renesmee concentrated on me for a second before turning her eyes back on Bella, her mind was yelling and begging at me to take Bella and take her to her.

It was wonderful, almost impossible to believe that a baby were so anxious to be with her mother.

Maybe it was the fact that there was no way to read the mind of normal babies to know if there was the same longing to be with their mothers. Maybe it was that way, and adults never considered that a baby could want to be with their mothers the same way I now saw in Renesmee.

There was nothing else that she wanted at this moment, than to be with Bella. Not even with Jacob.

Jacob started trembling, going into panic, too much scared and with too much distrust toward Bella. Renesmee was trembling, but with the movement Jacob's arms caused on her.

_What if she hurts her? Renesmee might be as strong as any of them? She's human, after all._

"Jake – I'm fine." Bella told him, there was a tone of panic in her voice, too, and though I could see that she felt that way, somehow she controlled herself and didn't let that emotion to control her.

Jasper was impressed.

Jacob frowned when Bella said that. _I'm not so sure of that._

All the time, while Bella was walking closer each time, her little hands formed fists in the air trying to reach Bella, whining over the slowness it was. She had waited too much that this seconds seemed like a too long time.

Seemingly, Renesmee didn't have much patience.

I wondered who she got that from.

Bella raised her hands toward Renesmee, and Jacob all the time was screaming at me in his mind that if I was sure of this, because he wasn't. It was not my problem. He wasn't going to decide if Bella could or couldn't be near our daughter.

When I didn't answer him, partly because my mind was almost completely at that moment, in the instant in which my two angels were finally together, so he raised his arms too, and Renesmee was in Bella's arms. I would have ripped his arms off personally when I saw that he didn't get off of Renesmee, he shuddered when he touched Bella's now cold skin, but I held back.

_Mommy, I'm finally with my mommy._ Renesmee raised her eyes toward Bella's face and smiled when she saw that it was her mom who had her in her arms finally.

Then she took her hand up, and I saw the memories Renesmee had of Bella before she showed them to her. Strange as it seemed, I was grateful for not being able to see inside Bella's head, I didn't want to relive those moments twice.

Everyone knew what was next, and remembering how they had all reacted when Renesmee had done to them, they got tense, expecting Bella's reaction.

I shuddered with every second Renesmee showed Bella the moment in which she had been in her arms when she was born.

I saw again the face of my angel bathed in blood and sweat, dying every second that was passing, but still, loving and wishing she had her own angel in her arms.

When Renesmee's hand touched Bella's cheek, she started gasping, I could see thanks to Jasper, the fright and stun that she somehow felt by seeing the images that were filling her mind at the moment, though I couldn't see them in her mind, I could see them through Renesmee.

I listened to everyone, including myself, stopped breathing. Only Renesmee and Jacob were.

In spite of the memories, of the impression of seeing them in her mind and seeing her face in a way she never saw herself but everyone else, us, Bella was doing an excellent work, she was still calm somehow. It had a little to do with the fact that Jasper was using his little gift on her, but I knew that Bella was also doing it really well.

The image in Renesmee's mind changed, the face of Bella got closer and I recognized the moment, really soon Renesmee would be out of Bella's arms, and Bella out of her memories.

When the memory ended, Renesmee loosened her hand and dropped it, smiling ever more hugely.

She was happy, ecstatic because she was with her mom after so much time, she had considered it too much long for her taste. But now that she was here, she felt happier because she was seeing her parents together, her family. It shocked me a little bit to see that Renesmee knew what it meant that we were the three of us together at this moment.

While I was listened aside to Bella react, my mind was considering a little detail.

"What… was… that?" Bella said, she seemed to be choking.

Renesmee had been able to show her memories to Bella. I hadn't thought, before, of that. Hmm…

"What did you see?" Rosalie asked Bella, while she was trying to see her over Jacob. "What did she show you?"

"She showed me that?"

I decided it was time to say something. I leaned toward her ear to whisper. "I told you it was hard to explain. But effective as means of communications go."

"What was it?" Jacob asked.

Bella blinked several times before answering, as if she wasn't quite sure of the image in her mind. Surely she wasn't. "Um. Me. I think. But I looked terrible."

"It was the only memory she had of you. She's letting you know that she's made the connection, that she knows who you are." I explained to her, my voice didn't sound normal, I was still shuddering away from those memories.

"But how did she do that?" Bella asked.

I wasn't sure of the answer, so for a second I didn't know what to say.

_How do I see visions, how do you read minds? It's a question a little bit silly, Edward._ Alice told me in her mind.

I would have scolded her if I'd been able to say it out loud. Silly question?

"How do I hear thoughts? How does Alice see the future?" I asked Bella, using what Alice had given me. I shrugged. "She's gifted."

_Hmm, I hadn't considered that option,_ Carlisle thought, distracting me.

"It's an interesting twist." Carlisle told me. "Like she's doing the exact opposite of what you can."

"Interesting." I considered what Carlisle had said, and what I had thought the moment in which Renesmee touched Bella and knew that Bella had seen it. "I wonder…"

Carlisle and I interchanged some _theories_ about the gift my daughter had. My mind was everywhere at the same time. Alice, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett were happy to see Renesmee happy, too. To see how this meeting had made her become even more beautiful by just being with her mother. Jasper and Jacob, perhaps, were the ones who were more worried, and the ones who didn't take their eyes off my angels, but I knew there was nothing to worry about.

The question I had made to myself a moment ago came back to my mind, while I was talking to Carlisle.

If Aro, Jane and I, maybe Alex and Demetri could not have access to the mind of Bella, then, how had it been possible that Renesmee could get her memories into her mind?

My mind immediately gave me two options:

Option A (I didn't consider it the most likely, but it was an option): Renesmee was daughter of Bella, she had Bella's genetic, at least half of it by being my daughter, too. Maybe her mind also worked in another _frequency_, like I had joked about with Bella a time ago. Maybe this was the reason why Renesmee could get her memories into Bella's head. But, that did not explain the fact that I could read Renesmee's mind.

It must be something else.

Option B (it seemed to me more likely, even Carlisle considered that way): maybe Renesmee had taken Bella's gift and had twisted it. Bella kept everyone else outside of her mind, but there was nothing that kept Renesmee out.

"I remember you, too." I heard Bella whispering. To Renesmee surely. My mind got distracted for a second listening to Renesmee.

Her lips pressed against Renesmee's forehead and placed a kiss on it.

Jacob was getting more nervous by the second passing, and that bothered me. Even Jasper.

Alice noticed it, too, perfectly knowing her soul mate. "She's fine." She assured Jasper, and he calmed down a bit.

But… Jacob didn't.

"Haven't we experimented enough for one day?" I wished I would have taken him out of the house and forbid him the entrance, but Bella still didn't know the reason of my hostility. "Okay, Bella's doing great, but let's not push it."

"What is your problem, Jacob?" Bella asked him, irritated.

_If she hurts her, no, I can't allow that. She's doing great, but if…_

That was it. I didn't stand him anymore. I would, I would get him out if he got Renesmee away from Bella. "Just because I understand, it doesn't mean I won't throw you out, Jacob. Bella's doing it extraordinarily well. Don't ruin the moment for her."

"I'll help him toss you, dog." _I'll help you, Edward. It also bothers me._ "I owe you a good kick on the gut." _Not only because the food in my hair, but for Renesmee, too._

Jacob ignored all the five members of my family and myself around him, his mind and his eyes solely on Renesmee.

I knew in that moment, that Bella would realize of the change in Jacob.

It was too obvious.

"No!" Bella gasped. And Jacob ripped Renesmee away from her immediately.

_She knows, she finally knows. I hope she makes me win the bet._ Emmett was thinking.

Esme, on the other side, got worried about Bella's reaction. _I hope she won't hurt anyone._

_Edward, Bella's going to lose it. Hold her._ Jasper warned me. Feeling the change in her emotions.

I put my arms, immediately, around Bella, trying to prevent that she would launch herself against Jacob there, with Renesmee in his arms.

_What's going on, daddy? Why is mommy upset?_ Renesmee was asking me, but there was no time for explanations.

"Rose," we heard Bella saying, the words were barely getting out of her grinding teeth. "Take Renesmee."

_I think it won't be you or me who would give what he deserves to this stinking dog, Edward._ Rosalie told me, while she took Renesmee off Jacob's arms.

"Edward, I don't want to hurt you, so please let go of me."

Would it be the right thing? For a second I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to allow Bella to do something she might regret later, but at the same time I wished she hurt that dog.

"Go stand in front of Renesmee."

_It's the best, son. You must be with Renesmee. She may be scared?_ With that, Renesmee and Bella had me by my daughter's side.

Carlisle was right, Renesmee didn't understand what was going on and she beginning to get afraid of everyone's expressions.

Bella's position changed into a one of attack and she walked forward two steps toward Jacob. _Uh-oh. Edward, you know there's no reason for this._ Jacob was telling me. _I know you're right to be upset, but this isn't so bad, you know?_

I ignored him.

"You didn't." Bella growled.

Jacob walked backwards, while he rose up his hands, asking Bella to stop so he could explain to her. "You know it's not something I can control."

"You stupid mutt! How could you? My baby!"

_Edward, son, stop her._ Esme was begging me.

Jacob was on the front door by now, half running while he walked down the stairs. Bella was behind him and us behind her.

"It wasn't my idea, Bella!" Jacob tried again.

"I've held her all of one time, and already you think you have some moronic wolfy claim to her? She's mine."

It would have been better that he hadn't told her his next words. "I can share." He said.

What did he think? Renesmee was his? He was so wrong. If Bella decided it, we would leave and I would take care that he never saw her ever again.

I can share!

"Pay up." Emmett screamed at him, thinking he already had his bet won.

"How dare you imprint on my baby? Have you lost your mind?"

"It was involuntary!"

I listened to Seth and Leah coming quickly closer while Jacob walked back toward the tress.

The two of them appeared then. Both very worried, and one furious.

Leah snarled, and made a move as if she were going to bite Bella if she didn't back away. She would have gladly if she didn't know Jacob would disapprove of, and that she wouldn't get out well.

Bella responded with a growl as if she hadn't heard her, she kept walking forward toward Jacob without minding the other two wolves by his side.

"Bella, would you try to listen for just one second? Please?" Jacob said, then he talked to Leah. "Leah, back off."

_No, Jacob. That bloodsucker won't do anything._ She showed her teeth, and didn't move. She wouldn't.

"Why should I listen?" Bella hissed.

I perfectly remembered Jacob's next words. But I knew how our minds worked, and what Bella would think. It wasn't very wise of him to use that argument.

"Because you're the one who told me this. Do you remember? You said we belonged in each other's lives, right? That we were family. You said that was how you and I were supposed to be. So… now we are. It's what you wanted."

"You think you'll be part of my family as my-son-in-law!" her voice came out louder.

I knew that that was what Bella'd think. Jacob should've known, too.

Emmett laughed. _Who would've said! Your son-in-law, brother._

"Stop her, Edward. She'll be unhappy if she hurts him." Esme asked me. _Please, son._

I just shook my head, and I felt Renesmee turning to see me and turning her eyes to Jacob and Bella almost immediately.

She was worried for both, but specially for Jacob. She understood that it was him who was in danger because Bella was the one who wanted to attack him. She didn't understand why it was happening. But didn't ask, either.

"No!" Jacob said. _How can she think that? Come on!_ "How can you even look at it that way? She's just a baby, for crying out loud!"

"That's my point!"

"You know I don't think of her that way! Do you think Edward would have let me live this long if I did? All I want is for her to be safe and happy – is that so bad? So different from what you want?"

I would have preferred he let me out of that, by saying that he was only affirming what he said.

But I was distracted by another fact, and Carlisle noticed, too.

"Amazing, isn't she?" I said to Carlisle who knew that I was talking to him because of his thoughts.

"She hasn't gone for his throat even once." _She really has one kind of super control._

Jasper wasn't far from disagreeing with my father, but he was too much shocked to appreciate it.

"Fine, you win this one." Emmett admitted upset. _Damn, little sister! My first bet at your favor and you failed to me._

"You're going to stay away from her." Bella told Jacob.

_What? No, no, Bella. I can't do that. I won't. Nessie._

"I can't do that!" Jacob said, echoing his thought.

"Try. Starting now." Bella said through her teeth.

"It's not possible. Do you remember how much you wanted me around three days ago? How hard it was to be apart from each other? That's gone for you now, isn't it?"

I, too, had considered that. But again, I knew that Bella wouldn't like that, either.

"That was her. From the very beginning. We had to be together, even then."

I read in Jasper how Bella felt a little relived. Was she agreeing then? Then when her emotion changed to anger, I understood the reason.

Even I was relieved to know that that longing of being with Jacob hadn't been precisely Bella but Renesmee. But just like Bella, it also bothered me even more.

"Run away while you still can." Bella threatened him, and though I didn't have a vision, I knew that her control had reached its limit.

"C'mon, Bells! Nessie likes me, too."

Bella froze, just like my family and I did. If I had not liked that _name_ much less to Bella for what we were seeing. Everyone noticed, too.

"What… did you call her?"

Jacob took another step behind, fearing Bella's reaction. "Well, that name you came up with is kind of a mouthful and-" _I like it, but…_ Jacob half-finished in his mind while Bella interrupted him.

"You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster?"

_Edward!_ I listened to several members of my family scream at me when they saw Bella launch herself at Jacob.

The last think I saw was Seth getting in the middle of Jacob and Bella, and then the sound of his bones breaking.

I shuddered for a second before launching at them.

What had I done?

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	24. Chapter 23, EXPLANATIONS

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CHAPTER 23. Explanations

"Jasper," I told him so he would go to Bella and calm her down.

Though she didn't seem to need him, as soon as we heard Seth's bones breaking, everyone had gone frozen, even Renesmee.

Jasper was at Bella's side at once, his hands over her shoulders to calm her down. The change was immediate. Leah and Jacob were over Seth, trying to see what had happened to him, what was the damage, while Carlisle was already checking him out.

I could hear Leah's thoughts the most clearly, she was screaming in her mind all kinds of heresies and insults toward Bella for what she had done to Seth.

I should have been closer, I should have listened to Esme when she asked me to. I had been a fool.

"Don't move, Seth. You have to switch forms. Jacob, Leah, could you take care of that, please?"

_The damage is not much, Edward. Don't worry. It was just his shoulder and his collarbone, son._

"Bella, calm down." Jasper told her, and Bella did, her face was more pacific but somehow yet showing signs of anxiety while she watched Seth whining all the time that Leah and Jacob took him into the woods to make him change his form.

Rosalie, Esme and Alice were at the porch, taking care of Renesmee.

_We're not going to allow Nessie to be with Bella until being one hundred percent sure controlled. She could have done the same thing to her._ Rosalie was thinking, more irritated than worried.

"Bella, love. Seth'll be fine, don't worry. It wasn't your fault." I told her, while I caressed her arm.

Her anxious expression didn't change. "How can it be? Look at what I've done, Edward!" her tone was almost hysterical, I just turned to Jasper and he nodded, sending another wave of calm to Bella.

Jacob came back with Seth and they made their way to Carlisle. They walked into the house, while Jacob stayed by Renesmee's side and Rosalie's.

Everyone else, Alice and Esme and Emmett walked to us.

"Bella, honey, Seth will be-"

"Fine, I know." Bella interrupted Esme, exasperated.

Esme nodded, and spoke to me in her mind. _Son, we're going hunting. We'll be back later. That's the _public_ story to Bella. We'll go finish your house up, Edward._

I nodded. "Okay, Esme."

"Are you coming, Jasper?" _Or you're staying to watch Bella?_

"I think it'll be best if I stay, Alice."

"Right. We'll see you, then." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and the three left.

_If I would've known that Bella'd attack Seth, I would've bet for that._ Emmett was thinking while they ran away.

Emmett and his bets.

As soon as they disappeared, I heard Seth sitting on the sofa in the living room and Carlisle going for his tools.

"Shall we?" I said to Bella, taking one of her hands.

Bella nodded, her eyes on the porch where Rosalie and Jacob were with Renesmee.

Jasper followed us without dropping his hand from Bella's shoulders.

The three of them heard us getting closer, and immediately Jacob and Rosalie got anxious, I could even see some of fear in their minds. Rosalie held Renesmee tighter against her.

It was completely ridiculous that they thought Bella could lose her control being with Renesmee, she had been doing extraordinarily well, as I had told Jacob, until she realized what was happening, the secret we had been keeping from her.

When we reached the porch, Renesmee stretched her arms toward Bella smiling. Automatically, Bella smiled and stretched her arms towards her, too.

_What do you think you're doing, Edward? Bella won't get near Renesmee until she is completely controlled. We can't risk her._

Rosalie almost demanded to me to get Bella way in that same moment. Jacob was far from thinking the same way. It was the very first time I saw them agreeing on the same issue. If it would have been any other situation, I might have been glad that they were getting along better, but not this time, I wasn't even agreeing.

I got closer to Rosalie, and took Renesmee in my arms. I could see that Rosalie was about to prevent it, but with my eyes I warned her to not to, with a sigh she surrendered her to me.

Renesmee smiled at me, and looking at my eyes, she knew that with me she didn't have the need of touching my face to show me what she wanted.

_Take me to mommy, daddy, please? I want mommy._ Her smiled fell a bit, waiting my answer.

"Of course I will, Renesmee. You can be with Bella."

_What!_ I listened to four different gasps accompanied with shock. I could almost swear that the same question had crossed through Bella's mind.

"Of course not, Edward." Rosalie demanded, taking Renesmee again before I could prevent it, my look had been on Bella.

"Rose."

Before Rosalie said something, Bella interrupted me. "No, it's fine, Edward. I think I too need to be sure that I'm in control."

"Bella, you don't have to-"

"Please," Bella interrupted me, shaking her hand. Her look came back to Renesmee, now in Rosalie's arms. "I will soon be with you, Renesmee. Don't worry." She smiled at her sadly.

Rosalie sighed with relief, and Renesmee with exasperation.

Then Bella walked toward Jacob. "I'm sorry about what happened out there." Jacob smiled at her shyly, and Bella continued. "Just because it was Seth who turned out hurt." Her toned seemed to say: and not you."

I shook my head, it was ridiculous what was happening. I trusted Bella, and I would take care that she were with Renesmee again, and soon. Both wanted it.

I took Bella's hand again, and pointed her with my other hand to continue to the inside of the house. As soon as we were inside and mostly out of Rosalie's and Jacob's sight, I heard them calming.

That fact alone bothered me so much… that Jasper felt it.

_Calm down, Edward. They're just worried about Nessie. And Bella will be controlled soon and she'll have Nessie with her._

I tried to relax, and to focus on Seth and Carlisle. He had barely started treating him.

Jasper moved toward the post of the staircase, still concentrated on each emotion of Bella. Even mine now and then.

Bella sat on the couch next to Seth, her face full of remorse.

_Hey, Edward!_ Seth said hi to me in his mind while smiling.

"How are you, Seth?" Bella asked.

"Ah, it's nothing. I'll be fine in an instant, Bella." Seth told her, his tone careless.

"I'm so-"

"Don't say anything, Bella. Really. I'm fine." Seth interrupted her, I could see desperation in Bella.

"Bella, love, it wasn't your fault. I should have been closer."

Bella shook her head.

"Seth's right, Bella. It was only a break on his shoulder and collarbone." Carlisle told her while he continued treating Seth.

"Sure, sure." Bella answered.

I listened to Leah at that moment, she was looking to the inside of the house, trying to see Seth and how was he, at that moment she didn't worry much about the fact that he were hurt but that he were inside of a house with vampires, and when one of them was the one who had attacked him.

Bella trying to apologize again, and as before, Seth interrupted her.

_Distract her, Edward. You should take this chance and update her about everything that's happened these days._ Seth advised.

Well, it would be a good occasion to talk about all. Not all, I still didn't want Bella to worry about the continuous accelerated growing of our daughter. That would the exact opposite of helpful.

"You know, Bella? At least you didn't bite me." Seth said.

That had not been my first option to begin with, but he already had. It hadn't been me who started.

Bella narrowed her eyes, her forehead frowned. "Why? Is that bad?"

"Oh, yeah. 'Cause the venom wouldn't _turn_ us but kill us, Bella."

Bella's mouth snapped open, the air came out of her as if she had been punched on her stomach.

"What?" she asked gasping.

"Yes, Bella. It's our _only_ defense against wolves. The venom." I explained to her. It was clear that Bella had no idea about this.

"But don't worry, it was just a little break. That's why I'm telling you there's nothing to worry about."

"Yes," Seth continued. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about. Aside from that." He told her while he pointed with his good hand to Carlisle fixing his shoulder up.

"What do you mean 'aside from that'?" Bella asked, confused.

"Firstly, Sam can't attack the Cullens, you know? The treaty was renewed, and your changing isn't a problem, either. Jacob gave his permission to Edward."

Bella turned to see me, maybe looking for a wider explanation. There was more to explain, the only thing I would really wish to not mention was the reason of the renewing of the treaty. But that had been one of our fears while Renesmee still wasn't born, that the pack would want to do something against her when she was born. At least Bella would relax, knowing that there was any danger now.

When I didn't answer, the little wrinkle that showed between her eyes every time she was stressed showed up again. "Explain," Bella told me.

I sighed, and started. "What Seth means, well, before Jacob came into the house, the day Renesmee was born, remember?"

Bella nodded. "The day you heard Renesmee for the first time." She answered, a little smile forming to one side of her mouth.

"Yes. Well, before he came in I spoke to him… about Leah." I told her, hesitating, waiting to see the pain in her face by remembering that.

It surprised me that instead of pain, I saw surprise. Then I remembered that Bella didn't know what I had spoken to Jacob about.

I was going to continue, when Bella interrupted me. "About Leah? What do you mean?"

"Well, I wasn't going to allow Leah to speak to you that way again, Bella. So I asked Jacob to talk to her so that wouldn't happen again. You're not upset, are you?"

"No, of course not. It's just that I didn't have idea.."

"You were asleep, love."

Bella twitched a little bit when my fingers touched her cheek, a smile in her lips.

"Go on." She asked me.

"When I finished with the Leah issue, well, there was another matter of importance. I think that you must remember. I had just convinced you and Rose that it was safe and better if we brought Renesmee to this world before time."

"I remember." Bella told me.

"But, in case of emergency, and though there wouldn't have been, we would make the change almost immediately, so I needed the permission to do so. I didn't want to break our treaty or, rather, I didn't want a war to begin between our families over that."

"Of course not," Bella said a bit anxious.

"Don't worry. Jacob gave me his permission speaking as the true Alpha. Only he could give me that, and he did. Then, Sam and the other ones can't say anything or get mad over that, because we didn't break our treaty. It's all fine now, love."

Bella smiled again, but a expression of confusion crossed her eyes.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"Ahm… that's why the treaty was renewed?"

"Partly, Bells." Seth answered.

"What do you mean?"

Carlisle turned to see me so quickly before turning his eyes to Seth. _Good luck with that._

I rolled my eyes, Bella was still waiting for Seth to answer.

"It's the most absolute law that exists in the pack, Bella. None of the members, any brother should kill or hurt, no matter if it's intended or accidentally, to the object of his existence, whom he'd imprinted on. Everyone is completely safe in that point, Emily, Kim, Claire, Rachel, and now Renesmee."

"Why is it the most absolute law? I don't understand."

"Bella, love, the object of imprinting, is the soul mate of each one. They couldn't live without the other one. You, too, know how that works. Jacob has explained."

Her forehead frowned, considering my words. For as much as I hated to think about Renesmee and Jacob that way, that was how the imprinting thing worked.

"It's happened just once," Seth continued.

"What thing?"

"That a brother hurt the object of imprinting of another one. It was a very long time ago they've told us." Seth quickly made clear, before Bella freaked out thinking that this law wasn't as _absolute_ as she thought. "Of course, it was an accident. No one would do that intentionally, no one would want to hurt, to destroy that way a brother, Bella."

The sound of the phone ringing interrupted our chat. Carlisle saw the phone number on the ID.

_It's Charlie, son. Should I pick up?_ Carlisle asked me.

Bella turned to see us both. "Who is it?"

"Charlie." I told her.

"Oh," Bella said, and then continued. "Aren't you going to pick up?"

"I don't think it's convenient."

Bella nodded. "Okay. For now."

The silence reigned again when the phone stopped ringing, but I knew Charlie would call again.

"There's more, Bella." Seth said, filling the silence of the room, except for his heart and the sound Carlisle did while he continued treating him.

"More?"

"Yes," Seth told her, excited. "Jacob and Sam can speak to each other now as before or something like that. Even though they're not on the same pack."

"How is that possible?"

"Well, we're not sure. They found out the day Jacob left looking for Sam to speak with him and explain how things were now."

"Was it the day they renewed the treaty?"

"Yes, it as, Bella." I answered her. "It's interesting in certain way. Because neither Seth nor Leah can listen to Sam or anyone from his pack, and vice versa. It also worked long distance. Though it's not the same way than before, Sam and Jacob can only hear to what the other want to share."

"Wow. That is… interesting, yes."

Bella frowned again. "They spoke in which way…?" she asked me, raising an eyebrow.

I knew what she meant, and what she was really getting at.

"I didn't get apart from you for a second, Bella."

"So?" the sound of the phone ringing for the second time interrupted Bella.

_Charlie, son._

"Let it ring."

Seth decided to answer Bella when the phone stopped ringing. "Yes, Edward refused to move from your side, Bella, so Sam had to change to his human form so he could speak with Carlisle."

Bella turned to see me, her eyes full of adoration, while I smiled at her. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wasn't going to leave you-" I stopped, I was about to say: suffer alone, but I remembered that Bella hadn't exactly said she had suffered, so I changed my words. "alone, you know."

Bella sighed. "I know."

Another moment passed, and Carlisle assured the brace on Seth's arm, he shuddered a bit, but didn't complain. Still, I could see in his mind how much it had hurt him, more than he let us see.

Again, I felt so bad for having allowed this to happen. It had been my fault to not take care of Bella better. I had been irresponsible when I believed that there would be no problem, I should have known that with her things never turn out to be as one trusted them to. Without Alice's visions telling me that everything would turn out as I expected, why had I trusted myself?

I apologized again. "I'm so sorry, Seth. I should've been closer."

Seth answered me in his mind again, not wanting Bella to listen to what he was really thinking.

_It hurts a little bit, of course it does, Edward. But it's really nothing. I've been worse._ Seth tried to placate me, remembering some good _falls_ when he was a kid.

Of course, those were falls, I told myself, not a vampire attack.

_Son, Seth'll be fine. Even you know that. Stop tormenting yourself._ Carlisle asked me.

"Seth, I-" Bella started, and the three knew what was next.

Bella didn't have the fault. Hadn't I been the one who had promised her to keep her out of temptation's path? Though this hadn't been from human blood this time, it should count equally. Bella truly regret this, and it hurt her to see what she had done. And I, had not been there to stop her, to prevent her from doing something she would regret, like now.

Seth interrupted her before she continued. "Don't worry about it, Bella, I'm totally fine."

"Bella, love, no one is judging you. You're doing so well." I told her at the same time Seth did.

I could see Bella felt frustrated, it was obvious through her expression, Jasper also felt it.

_She's fine, Edward. Just… why are you… happy?_ Jasper wondered, I didn't answer.

Partly, it was hard work at that moment to stop smiling, to hide the pleasure I felt for what had happened, not for Seth's injury, but for Bella's reaction.

At least I hadn't been wrong by thinking that Bella would get upset when she found out Jacob had imprinted on our daughter. I almost thought, that Bella would agree, that she would be happy about it, considering that I was often wrong about her reactions, it was almost always the opposite to the usual. And what was usual was to get upset, so, who assured me that Bella would get upset?

She did herself.

Then the nickname, another thing I had not been wrong about.

Jasper could feel Bella struggling with her rage, trying to control herself. She was maybe thinking of Jacob and Renesmee. After all, the two of them were outside with Rosalie.

_Almost done._ Carlisle was thinking, while he secured another part of the brace.

Again, Seth shuddered.

"Sorry, sorry!" Bella whispered.

"Don't freak, Bella." Seth asked her, almost begging in his mind for the apologies to end. He wasn't upset for what had happened. He put the hand Carlisle wasn't treating on Bella's knee and patted it lightly.

I caressed her other arm, trying to calm her, but it was more efficient Jasper's gift in that moment.

"I'll be back to normal in half an hour." Seth told Bella. Wishing he were able to be outside at that moment in the woods. At any moment did pass through his mind some aversion towards the house or towards the smell of vampire that was everywhere. "Anyone would have done the same, what with Jake and Ness-" _uh-oh, no Seth, don't even mention that._ He corrected himself and changed what he had been about to say. "I mean, at least you didn't bite or anything. That would've sucked."

Bella put her face between her hands, and then I saw her shuddering. Surely she was considering the possibility of that happening. I, too, shuddered.

"I'm a bad person." Bella murmured.

"Of course you aren't. I should have-"

"Stop that." Bella interrupted me, sighing.

Her words brought to my mind other memories, of the night after our return from Italy. She had used similar words.

_"This has to stop now. You can't think about things that way__…" "You can't take responsibility for the things that happen to me here… None of it is your fault…" "You have to realize that it's not your job to take the blame…" "I know it's your… your nature to shoulder the blame for everything…"_

Bella had demanded to me, thinking – believing, rather – that the reason why I had gone off to Italy to face my death, was because she thought I felt I was the guilty. And it was so, though I had said the other way.

Seth intervened, distracting my mind.

"Lucky thing Ness – Renesmee isn't venomous. 'Cause she bites Jake all the time."

Bella released her face, her hands falling. "She does?"

"Sure. Whenever he and Rose don't get dinner in her mouth fast enough. Rose thinks is pretty hilarious."

Of course Rosalie thought it was hilarious, she enjoyed seeing Jacob holding back his tears or his whining when Renesmee bit him. It hurt, and a lot. But that was what Renesmee wanted to see, so he held back.

Jasper felt a change in Bella, it was shock. Why would she feel shocked? What was the impression? Even I had noticed it since she had been born. The wounds she had made by trying to get out before Rose or I got her out hadn't healed until I had taken care of them. Not even when Renesmee had bitten her when she had been in Bella's arms.

Carlisle had waited for some answer from Bella, expecting her to say something else about those moments. When there had been no answer, he spoke. He was done with Seth.

_That's it. I wish it were so easy to treat humans._

"Well, Seth." he said, while he got up and took a step back. He would come back to his office for the moment. He wanted to feel some normality, and to prepare what was necessary to measure Renesmee in a few minutes. "I think that's as much as I can do. Try to not move for, oh, a few hours, I guess." He chuckled, remembering. "I wish treating humans were this instantaneously gratifying." He raised his hand to place it over Seth's head, and said. "Stay still."

_Well, son, I'm leaving. Seth will be fine._ Carlisle reminded me before going back to his office.

"I can probably manage sitting still for a while," Seth yawned. _I haven't rested for as much as I'd want. Mmm…_

He laid over the arm of the sofa, carefully of not moving his arm wrongly, his eyes closed, and almost immediately, his thoughts were incoherent. He was asleep.

His mouth fell half-open, and I saw Bella frowning of seeing Seth falling asleep so quickly.

You haven't seen Renesmee, I thought.

Bella got up from the couch, and I saw her walking toward the open back window. Like it was difficult to me to be away from her at that moment, and seeing – mostly listening – to Leah, I followed her. When she stopped I took her hand in mine.

Leah stopped in front of us, but her eyes never rested on our figures watching her. Her look and her thoughts were still anxious for not being able to be with her brother, Seth. She was worried about him too much and needlessly, that something could happen to him inside of here, with us in his presence. Besides, no one had told her how Seth was.

_I hope those bloodsuckers don't do anything to him… that he's fine now and he'll get out of that terror house soon. Vampires!_ Leah shuddered by thinking on the last word.

Even Bella could have distinguished between the looks of Leah, she seemed to be like playing, one and one. Between her anxiety and her rage against Bella for having hurt her brother, it was obvious every emotion in her face, even I could have recognized every look if it wasn't because I could read her mind.

The hatred that emanated from her look and her thoughts was overwhelming and unbelievable to believe that someone could feel such resentment and hatred toward other people.

I almost got out of the house and got her as far away as possible from Bella, she seemed like she were ready to attack Bella at any moment. Like that were going to happen while I could avoid it.

I listened to Carlisle starting to gather his tools for measuring Renesmee in just a few minutes, his mood changed completely, from the satisfaction he was still feeling for having helped Seth and to it being so fast, so different from treating humans, a _sadness_ or sorrow, as if it were a big sorrow to do this, I could see that the accelerate growing that Renesmee showed hadn't slowed enough as to think that someday she would stop aging and she would reach a point where it was the limit. In just two days she had grown four inches. Approximately two inches a day, and seeing to the way it continued, I was sure that today it would also be two inches. Six inches in three days.

What were we going to do?

Jasper felt the change in my emotions, from simply being enjoying of the company of Bella and being at her side, holding her hand to a frustration, an immense sorrow by considering that Renesmee, if she continued to grow so fast, she would only live, what, how many years?

I didn't even want to consider the terrifying truth.

I didn't turn to see him, but I felt how he was using his gift to calm me down a bit, it worked, but not enough as to make me forget my worries, and Bella still had no idea.

I heard Renesmee thinking about her meal time in a second before Rosalie saw it again when she showed it.

"What is it she wants?" Jacob asked Rose, his tone was a mix of anxiety and some of repudiation towards my sister, that wasn't far from feeling exactly the same.

"She's just hungry," she said to Jacob, just that her tone had nothing of anxiety. I saw her turning toward Renesmee, and her expression and tone changed completely. "Right now, Nessie."

Jacob began to argue with Rose, trying to be him the one who fed Ness-Renesmee this time, (that nickname was sticking to me), of course Rosalie would not accept that. It was her who – according to her – had the turn this time to feed her. Their discussion was audible up to where we were, I was sure that Bella could listen to them, Jasper could.

He shook his head a few times, while he smiled. It seemed to him a bit ridiculous to fight over that trifle.

Bella was completely unconscious of what was happening around her, or of these little details.

I was wondering what would she be thinking about, which were the thoughts that filled her mind at that moment, if they were worries or they were memories, perhaps. Speaking of memories, my mind came back to the moment in which I had promised my angel to not let any memory of our time together while she was still human to disappear from her memory.

What memories could be the most important to her? She may not want to forget about a second of the time we spent together.

It upset me a little bit the fact that I had wasted six months of her life, six months of memories that could have been happy ones, just for having been an arrogant fool by staying away fro her life, by forcing her to be away from me…

I stopped dead that thought, it didn't matter anymore, Bella was by my side now, and she would be for the eternity.

I concentrated on the memories that I shared with her. They were a lot, but I remembered each one of them with perfect clarity. All the opposite in Bella's case.

There was the first day, the day in which she had come to Forks and I had seen her for the first time with my own eyes in the cafeteria. How had I noticed the little common depth of her chocolate brown eyes, even our first Biology class, where I had been so close to kill her, then at the office… I wondered if Bella would really want to remember that day. There was nothing nice in those memories with me in them. I hadn't been in my best moment, and Bella had noticed from the very beginning the big difference between my family and the humans around us.

The second day I had been by her side again after having disappeared for a week, Bella had been too much too quick, considering that she had been absolutely terrified of me or so it seemed, finding two errors, two errors that hadn't been too obvious for anyone else, knowing her name or rather, having used Bella instead of Isabella when I had introduced myself to her, and then, the difference in the color of my eyes, from black to golden.

Nothing escaped her eyes.

I could keep thinking about each second by her side, each second that she had been aware that I was by her side, at least. There were the nights after that vile of Mike Newton had asked her to the dance, that day in which I had decided that I couldn't ignore her any longer…

Jasper's thoughts interrupted my own thoughts.

_Mmm, what can be worrying her? Surely what happened with Seth and Jacob. But…_

"What's the matter, Bella? No one is angry with you-"

_Speak for yourself, bloodsucker._ I heard Leah, while she growled when she listen to what Jasper said.

"or even surprised, really. Well, I supposed we are surprised. Surprised that you were able to snap out of it so quickly. You did well. Better than anyone expects of you." Jasper finished telling her.

While he spoke I could feel how he was using his gift, Seth's snores stopped a bit, even I forgot about the ire I felt that day towards Mike…

I focused on Bella, I returned my eyes to her face. Waiting for her answer, after all, I couldn't read her mind to know what had caused that tension.

"I was thinking about Charlie, actually." Bella answered.

_Charlie? That I wasn't expecting._ "Ah," Jasper said, outside, Rosalie and Jacob stopped arguing so they'd listen intently.

"We really have to leave, don't we? For a while, at the very least. Pretend we're in Atlanta or something."

_Leave?_ Jacob wondered, a little scared of the possibility. _No, they can't. They can't keep me away from Nessie. I can't allow that._

Rose on the other side, was happy with the option seeing Jacob. _Ah, yes, please. Anything as long as we get away from this stinky dog._

Jasper thought quickly about the answer and decided that it was best that Bella knew it already. I didn't answer, because I saw Bella waiting for Jasper to be the one who told her something. Her eyes stayed on Jasper's face.

"Yes. It's the only way to protect your father."

Bella became silent for a moment, thinking on what Jasper had told her, perhaps. Then, she answered. "I'm going to miss him so much. I'll miss everyone here."

This was the only part that hurt me, that made me want to regret having damned Bella to this endless life, to see her suffering for all those persons that were now part of her life and that tomorrow would not anymore, that she might never be able to see them ever again, that she would soon forget about them if she didn't see them with her new eyes, if she didn't listen to them with her new ears, that she would only have dim memories of her father, Charlie, of her mother, Renée, and even of her step-father, Phil. Of her friends, Angela, Ben, maybe even Jessica…

I remembered how hard had it been at the beginning, when I had woken up to this new life and I could not remember my father's face, my mother's face, especially. How much had it caused me at the beginning, even at this moment it hurt me, but I also knew that it was part of how life was, even if I had not been turned into this monster, I would have lost my parents before I got to old age.

But, knowing how hard it would be for Bella to get used to this, it hurt me to know how much I was forcing her to go through. An eternity, maybe.

I was only expecting that my family, Renesmee and I were enough for her to not suffer for not being with her parents anymore. That we were capable of making her immensely happy, something I would never stop trying. That was my job, the only thing I cared about, that Bella was happy.

Bella had told me and swore so many times that that she didn't care, that everything she wanted was to be by my side for ever, that maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

In my mind, memories of some of the many times passed through.

"_A girl can dream,"_ Bella had told me, as soon as I had raised my eyes to her eyes. She really had believed that I would change her, in the middle of the school, in front of hundreds of eye-witnesses, into a vampire. It was ridiculous.

My eyebrows had risen. _"Is that what you dream about? Being a monster?"_

"_Not exactly. Mostly I dream about being with you forever."_ Bella had confessed to me, and my expression had softened when I had listened to the long and the obvious pain in her voice.

It had saddened me that it seemed that Bella thought that she didn't have secured for those short years that would be her life compared to an eternity. _"Bella. I will stay with you – isn't that enough?"_

Bella smiled. _"Enough for now."_

Another memory that I hadn't noticed until this moment showed up in my mind, a year ago exactly. Bella's eighteenth birthday.

"_So,"_ I had told Bella, changing the subject that we had been talking about on our way home, where my family was waiting for us to celebrate her birthday. _"If you won't let me get you the Audi, isn't there anything that you'd like for your birthday?"_

"_You know what I want,"_ Bella had told me in a whisper. To turn her.

"_Not tonight, Bella. Please."_

"_Well, maybe Alice will give me what I want."_ Bella said, making that growl came out of my mouth with just imagining that she dared to back then.

"_This isn't going to be your last birthday, Bella."_

"_That's not fair!"_ she had complained. And now we were here, about to celebrate her nineteenth birthday with more gifts.

It was almost ironic that Bella had awoken to her new life the same day she had been born in her old life. It seemed, that this date would still be a part of her existence for the rest of eternity.

Bella distracted me this time, I heard her snorting to some thought that had crossed her mind, though I had no way of knowing what it was about. With my eyes still on her face, I raised an eyebrow in a curious way, expecting Bella to explain to me and made my frustration to calm, but of course, Bella just shook her head and didn't answer.

I listened to Carlisle getting up off his chair and getting away from his desk, taking the tools he'd need to measure Renesmee. The time had come, and even Rosalie and Jacob knew. When they got up, too, Renesmee sighed very lightly, she also knew what was coming next.

_It seemed that is time, Edward. We'll have to take care of Bella so she won't get upset with this new information._ Jasper told me.

Jacob, Rosalie and Renesmee walked through the door while Carlisle came downstairs to begin.

_How much is it gonna be this time? I hope it's slowing… _Jacob was begging.

Rosalie seemed to be in sync with Jacob, everyone were. I was sure that if Esme, Alice and Emmett were here, they would be thinking just like everyone else.

Jasper felt the confusion in Bella when her eyes rested on Carlisle and the tools he was carrying in his hands, and he got to her side immediately. Taking precautions, according to what he was thinking, any _dangerous_ reaction from Bella.

"Must be six," I whispered to Carlisle mostly, that he was also wondering which the outcome from this day would be.

No one turned to see me, but everyone reacted to my comment.

_Measuring again? Mmm… well, I don't option. Daddy said I have to do it, grandpa too._ Renesmee was thinking, a little frustrated and impatient to end this.

"So?" Bella asked, totally unaware of what was happening.

Bella asked to me, her eyes on Rosalie, Renesmee and Jacob. They had stayed at the door, hesitating in getting in because Bella was here.

_Would it be safe to do this in front of Bella? Even if Japer is here. I hope we have good news this time._

"Time to measure Ness-er, Renesmee." Carlisle said to Bella, correcting the way her talked about Renesmee, at least in front of Bella. Remembering perfectly the reaction of Bella to that fool nickname Jacob had given her.

"Oh. You do this every day?"

_I wish it was _once_ a day._ Jacob thought, considering that it'd be less the growth of Renesmee if it were just necessary to measure her once a day instead of four.

"Four times a day." Carlisle corrected Bella.

_They know what to do already,_ Carlisle thought, while he indicated to Rosalie and Jacob to bring Renesmee toward the couch.

Renesmee sighed very lightly. They weren't started yet and she already wanted to be done.

"Four times? Every day? Why?" Bella asked, and thought I would have preferred she didn't, she had to know what was going on.

It wasn't difficult to guess the reason, after all, Renesmee had been born in just barely more than a month, when it should have passed nine months in a normal case. Maybe it wasn't just the accelerated growth inside of Bella going to be everything we'll see about her, but more, to watch her grow and have her with us for just a few years instead of an eternity.

I had been about to lose Bella, and now, to consider that we would lose Renesmee after this painful fight, after thinking that our story would finally have a happy ending…

"She's still growing quickly," I answered to Bella, I felt like at any moment I would collapse with so much. It was as if fate had gotten tired, or had given up trying to take me away from Bella, now that she was a vampire as myself, and she were trying to take from me part of my happiness so it would never be complete.

I almost heard her telling me: _you have Bella, but you won't have Renesmee._

I squeezed her hand a little, and put my other arm around her waist. It was the first time that I felt Bella as my only support, as if I didn't hold on to her, I would fall down.

Jasper felt my emotions and tried to calm me, both with his gift and his thoughts. Even Carlisle noticed my expression and did as Jasper.

_Relax, son. Let's wait and see how this develops._ Carlisle told me again, those had been the same words he had told me two days ago.

How did he expect me to calm down, when he still had to tranquilize me?

Renesmee stretched in Rosalie's arms to allow Carlisle to measure her. Though he tried not to think about the measurements, I could see everything through his eyes even if he didn't think about it.

It had diminished, yes, but nothing that gave us hope that it were going to stop soon…

Jacob crossed his arms over his chest, as if he were trying to keep the feeling of taking Renesmee and ran off so he wouldn't have to see those measurements ever again. It was difficult for him to see how Renesmee grew, and to consider that she were going to die before living like us.

I tried to not listen to Jacob, it was already enough hard without listening to him.

"What do we do?" Bella whispered, in her tone it was obvious how she felt, I didn't even have to see in Jasper's mind to know.

"I don't know," I told her, tightening a little bit more my arms around her. There was nothing else at this moment that Bella could care more about.

No one.

"It's slowing," Jacob said through his teeth, trying to be optimistic, and more than anything, wishing that the answer was positive.

_I wish I could give them better news, but I can't yet._

"We'll need several more days of measurements to track the trend, Jacob. I can't make any promised."

"Yesterday she grew two inches. Today it's less." Jacob insisted.

"By a thirty-second of an inch, if my measurements are perfect."

"Be perfect, Doc." Though there was really no threat in his words, the desperation and fear he felt made them sound that way.

Jacob respected Carlisle too much.

_That dog, what does he think he is? Carlisle does what he can. We know._ Rosalie tensed when she heard Jacob, only Jasper and I saw behind the true feeling in Jacob.

"You know I'll do my best." Carlisle assured Jacob.

_Yeah, I know. But there's got to be something better than that… well. _Jacob sighed. "Guess that's all I can ask."

For some reason, Jasper felt that Bella was getting upset.

The fact that Renesmee was just as Bella distracted me. Her eyes didn't turn to my face, it would have been easier that she asked me that again, but again, Renesmee had realized perfectly well that it was Rosalie and Jacob the ones who didn't want her near her mom, so she turned towards Rosalie to ask, to beg being with Bella.

She raised her little hand toward Rosalie, demanding by the way she moved that Rosalie listened to her.

_I can imagine what is it she wants…_ Rosalie was thinking while she leaned down toward her to see what Renesmee would ask her.

An image of Bella with Renesmee in her arms showed up in Rosalie's mind. When she got away, I listened to Renesmee asking and asking that again.

_I want mommy, I want to be with my mommy. She won't hurt me._ It was impressive to see how Renesmee understood that that was the reason why almost the entire family wanted to keep her away from Bella, and even more impressive that she were so sure that there was no danger.

I was sure that if Bella could listen the same thing, that alone would make her immensely happier.

Rosalie sighed, and before anyone could speak, Jacob spoke to her. "What does she want?"

_Eating, playing, going out…? Anything, we'll give her._

We would see that if by listening to Rosalie answering, he would think the same way, not that I cared about his opinion. Renesmee would have everything she wanted.

"Bella, of course." She said to Jacob, then, considering that Bella had actually been doing a great job with Renesmee before all that mess with Jacob and the issue of his imprinting, she turned her eyes to Bella. "How are you?"

I had been expecting another answer, so it surprised me her answer as much as it caused my worries to return. "Worried." I squeezed her hand a bit.

"We all are. But that's not what I meant." Rosalie reminded her.

"I'm in control," Bella assured her, and considering what Jasper had felt emanating from her, it was completely true.

Rosalie, trusting that neither Jasper nor I had said anything against Bella's words, she trusted them to be true.

Jacob bit his lips, trying to avoid saying the words that were in his mind at that moment, trying to prevent Bella from having Renesmee again. But he remembered, too, that Bella hadn't done anything to make us distrust her. Her mistake had been when she found out that Jacob had imprinted on our daughter.

So he held back.

Rosalie walked towards Bella, Renesmee in her arms, all the time I could listen to the emotion growing inside of Renesmee. It was what she wanted the most right now, to be with her mom.

It made me so happy that fact, that I could almost ignore completely the distrust that was on my siblings toward Bella.

Bella and Renesmee were together again, then. A beautiful smile spread across Renesmee's face, it was something more than happiness what she felt when she was with Bella, it was something so strong that I almost didn't recognize the feeling. It was something almost similar to what I felt by leaving her side and then came back to Bella. It was as if none of us were _complete_ until we were together.

Outstanding.

And I didn't need to have Renesmee in my arms to feel that way, just by the fact of having my two angels in front of me was more than enough. That image made me want to explode out of happiness. As if my heart were not big enough to hold so much love.

I prepared myself for Bella's reaction just as Jasper did, I raised my hand from behind Bella, telling Jasper that there was nothing to worry about. I could see what Renesmee was going to show her, and it wasn't something that could make Bella lose control. It was just a memory.

_Are you sure she'll be fine, Edward?_ Jasper asked me, wanting to be sure. I nodded so slightly that no one noticed.

Her little hand touched Bella's cheek, and she gasped a bit with the shock of the moment.

Renesmee showed to her the moment in which Bella had launched herself against Jacob to attack him, then Seth getting in the middle of their way. At the same time, Renesmee was wondering which had been the reason for this, why had Bella gotten mad and had wanted to _hurt_ Jacob.

Seeing again the memories of Renesmee, and seeing how even that, where Bella had been the lead at that moment, still, Renesmee wanted that Bella knew that all the time she had been looking at her, that that memory also included her and that she had it with her. Made me smile a bit, seeing how Renesmee wanted Bella to know everything about her.

When we listened to Seth's bones breaking, Bella and I shuddered.

The memory continued, and we both continued seeing Jacob in them. It was so annoying to see how Renesmee felt so attached to him as Jacob to her. There was no way of getting them apart without Renesmee, I didn't care about Jacob, to suffer.

"Oh, wonderful. Perfect." Bella said while growling.

She had surely noticed the way in which Renesmee saw Jacob, too. "It's just because he tastes better than the rest of us." I tried to assure her that that was the reason, when I myself knew that it wasn't just because of that. And it was irritating.

_She was showing her memories of me._ Jacob thought gladly.

"I told you she likes me, too." I heard Jacob telling Bella, I didn't even raise my look.

_I'm still not finished, mommy. I want you to see everything._ Renesmee thought, while she patted Bella on the cheek.

More memories showed in Renesmee's mind before they were surely on Bella's mind. The image of Rosalie with Renesmee on her lap while she brushed her hair, it seemed to be a nice feeling to her.

Renesmee had showed me something similar days ago.

Then, the image of a moment ago passed through her mind, Carlisle while he measured her. I smiled when I saw that she didn't like very to have to do it.

I saw in her mind a list of images of the past days.

"It looks like she's going to give you a rundown of everything you missed." I said to Bella in her ear.

At that same moment, I realized of what was Renesmee's next memory she was showing to her. Immediately, Bella reacted to the smell of the human blood that was inside of the cup in which they fed Renesmee, her nose wrinkled.

Jasper could feel a bit of the pain emanating from Bella, remembering his own memories probably.

_Edward! Nessie._ Jasper yelled at me in his mind.

Renesmee was in my arms in the same second, and Jasper had Bella secured around his arms, trying to prevent that she were going to lose her control again.

_What's going on, daddy?_ Renesmee asked me.

But I couldn't concentrate on Renesmee, my eyes were glued to Bella. Reading the emotions in her face and in Jasper's mind. Everything I saw was confusion.

"What did I do?" Bella asked.

I looked at Jasper to make sure that this had been an exaggeration of mine, and that there was no reason to have Renesmee in my arms yet.

_How is it possible that she doesn't feel thirsty, Edward? There was only a bit of pain and confusion._

I returned my eyes to Bella, and said. "But she was remembering being thirsty." How was it possible that she were _so_ controlled? For a moment I wondered as much as Jasper had been since the moment she had woken. "She was remembering the taste of human blood."

_I have a good hold on her, Edward…_ Jasper told me while he tightened his hold on her a little bit more.

But, it seemed, there was nothing to worry about. Maybe not now nor tomorrow. In truth Bella could be herself from the beginning and not a newborn thirsted of human blood in her first years. She wouldn't have to wait for _eighty_ years to be herself again.

"Yes. And?" Bella asked me.

I had been a complete fool by distrusting her after everything I had witnessed of for myself of the control she had over her emotions, when I myself had been arguing and trying to convince everyone else of this. If I didn't trust her, how did I expect everyone else to do it? I frowned, considering that. I trusted on her totally, completely and blindly.

I laughed when I saw her expression, and heard Renesmee. _Daddy, mommy wasn't going to do anything._

How could she know? She trusted Bella as much as I did.

_How does she do it? Is she just a newborn? She's not supposed to behave this way, or would it be that…_

"And nothing at all, it seems. The overreaction is mine this time. Jazz, let her go." I said, ignoring what I listened Jasper wondering.

_But, how…? I don't understand what's going on. She's only hours old and she has more control over her emotions than even I do._ Jasper was wondering while he released Bella.

Bella stretched her arms towards Renesmee, and I gave her to her. From this second on there would be no more distrusts. Bella had passed all and each one of the tests that there'd been in her way today. How could I not trust on her?

"I can't understand. I can't bear this." Jasper complained, his thoughts had the same tone.

The last thing I caught from his mind, was, besides the confusion that he felt, the surprise everyone, but me, felt for his reaction.

_Ugh, bloodsucker on the way._ Leah thought before moving to get away enough from Jasper while he passed through. He jumped over the river, on his way to our new house to meet with Alice and everyone else. Alice was surely on his way to meet with Jasper.

Soon his thoughts got away and off when he was too far away that I could read his thoughts.

_Uncle Jasper?_ Renesmee wondered, and then she touched Bella's cheek, showing her what had happened again, Jasper leaving the house and disappearing.

"He'll be back," I answered everyone, maybe including Bella, too. Everybody was wondering what had happened with Jasper, though they had a little idea of the problem. "He just needs a moment alone to readjust his perspective on life."

_We all need it in that case._ Rosalie thought, the same confusion and surprise Jasper had talked about a moment ago were repeating now in her mind. I tried hard to not laugh of her comment. The truth, even I needed it.

Everyone in this house had more than a hundred and a hundred and fifty years in his life and we had less control of our emotions than Bella.

Bella shocked me with her question. "Is he mad at me?"

My eyes widened in surprise. How could she think that? "No. Why would he be?"

"What's the matter with him, then?"

"He's upset with himself, not you, Bella. He's worrying about… self-fulfilling prophecy, I suppose you could say." I explained to all.

"How so?" Carlisle asked me, interested in what I had just explained.

"He's wondering if the newborn madness is really as difficult as we've always thought, or if, with the right focus and attitude, anyone could do as well as Bella. Even now—perhaps he only has such difficulty because he believes it's natural and unavoidable. Maybe if he expected more of himself, he would rise to those expectations. You're making him question a lot of deep-rooted assumptions, Bella."

"But that's unfair. Everyone is different; everyone has their own challenges. Perhaps what Bella is doing goes beyond the natural. Maybe this is her gift, so to speak." Carlisle said.

_Think about it, son. It may be very possible. Maybe this is her talent._

Mmm, likely, but something very remote told me that it wasn't as likely as Carlisle wanted to consider it. Rosalie agreed with me, she was thinking that this was because of the time Bella had had to prepare herself. Everyone had spoken so much with her, we had told her so much about this life and how hard it was, Bella knew what she would have to face by accepting an endless life of human blood thirst…

If it hadn't been for Renesmee, I wouldn't have noticed. She touched her cheek and repeated what she had felt a moment ago in Bella. She had frozen, and I could almost assure that it was from the surprise of hearing of talk.

"That's an interesting theory, and quite plausible."

_It seems to me very logical, son. Bella has wanted this since you're together, and Alice always saw it._

That her talent were to have a super control was more than what she or even me would have been able to ask for.

It was in certain way, almost wonderful that Bella wouldn't have to spend through all those years of craziness that newborns went through. Not being struggling against her thirst and with every human smell that crossed her way so she wouldn't kill those people. If she had done it already once, she maybe could keep seeing Charlie before we had considered.

But still, the smell of human blood was painful, I could see that when Renesmee had showed her that memory, it hurt Bella.

Beside, I didn't have a security that that was her talent either, but just considering that it was, it made me glad, it caused me a little degree of happiness just because my Bella wouldn't suffer. That was the only thing I had been fighting for all this time.

Bella sighed, interrupting my thoughts, but her face didn't show anything.

I wondered if such thing even exited, if it were possible that Bella's talent were a super control.

I talked to Carlisle, it was him who could have an answer. "Have you ever seen an equivalent to self-control as a talent? Do you really think that's a gift, or just a product of all her preparation?"

_Well, not this way, but…_ Carlisle shrugged. "It's slightly similar to what Siobhan has always been able to do, though she wouldn't call it a gift."

_Siobhan? Please, what can she do, if she's never said anything? That I know of, at least._ Rosalie thought.

Yes, I neither had listened anything about her, only of Maggie just like Rosalie.

"Siobhan, your friend in that Irish coven? I wasn't aware that she did anything special. I thought it was Maggie who was talented in that bunch." Rosalie was the one who spoke up.

"Yes, Siobhan thinks the same. But she has this way of deciding her goals and then almost… willing them into reality. She considers it good planning, but I've always wondered if it was something more. When she included Maggie, for instance. Liam was very territorial, but Siobhan wanted it to work out, and so it did."

_Let's sit,_ Carlisle said while he pulled closer a chair. Rosalie and I did the same.

It was as if there was nothing out of normal in this house once again, like Bella were a part of us from decades ago as each one of the members of the family, as if there was nothing strange to have her near the glass wall with Renesmee, our daughter, in her arms, with two wolves on the sofa, one of them completely asleep and the other one close to be too.

It was peaceful in a strange way, for all the so unexpected changes in our family.

The three of us kept considering the idea that this were something similar to what Siobhan could do, or that at least, it was a talent as Carlisle believed it to.

Out of the three, Rosalie was the more skeptical about this theory, she really didn't believe that it was as Carlisle considered it, she believed more in Jasper's theory. And somehow, it too sounded more reasonable to me, though I wanted to think that it was a talent, if it was, there was no way that Bella were going to fail, on the contrary…

I explained to them several times how it had happened everything in the forest when Bella and I had crossed with the smell of humans, the way Bella had held her breath and ran away.

We tried to find it some logic, considering several options.

Every moment since she had opened up her eyes, how she had been able to control her emotions from the very beginning with just seeing how we worried.

All the time I had had my mind divided, one part of it was listening and considering what my father and my sister were saying, and the other one was intent on each change in Bella's expression through Renesmee, who was still showing her the rundown of the day.

I was trying to keep me talking a little bit to Carlisle and Rosalie. Alice had said that they would come back at this time or sort. But even Renesmee was already getting tired, it had been a long day, I think that it was the first time that she spent the entire day without sleeping on the afternoon. She hadn't slept because she knew that Bella was close and the only thing she wanted was to be with her, and now, being in her arms, she was so happy that she had been trying to not fall asleep until showing everything to Bella, but the sleepiness was winning over her.

Rosalie turned to see with the corner of her eye to my two angels and then turned to see me quickly, before returning her eyes to Carlisle, but she spoke to me in her thoughts.

_She really wanted to be with Bella. She hasn't slept, Edward._ Rose told me, as if she would've guessed that that was the exact thing I had been thinking.

I listened to Bella shuddering lightly, and I could see why. Renesmee had showed her the song I had written for her, but at the back of the image, she was lying on a table yet, while the conversion wasn't finished yet.

I would never know the truth, whether Bella had suffered or not.

Jasper hadn't wanted to come into the room or being close to Bella those days, so he wouldn't show me what Bella was feeling, so that would be a secret from the one Bella would only have the answer.

It had been almost an hour, and I listened to Renesmee giving up unwillingly and let the sleep enveloped her. I could see how the images in her mind were starting to pass more slowly and then they became blurry until they stopped. Her little eyes blinked fast and Bella's face came and went while she looked at it. Her eyes closed completely and then I heard her yawning. Then her little hand fell, though it didn't pass much time before listening to the sound of wind interrupted by Bella when she took Renesmee's little hand again.

There was nothing to see, but I knew that she would soon see what I myself had seen days ago. All of those colors and shapes in her dreams, the face of each member of the family, hers…

Other thoughts interrupted my concentration. Carlisle and Rosalie noticed my distraction when I turned my eyes towards the glass wall, and they knew that Alice and Jasper, Esme and Emmett were coming back finally to give Bella her _happy birthday_. I was almost sure that Bella would not be very happy with that.

But there was no way of stopping Alice, or at least asking her to not mention her birthday.

_We've got to hurry. I already want to see Bella's face when she knows that today's her birthday._ Alice was coming, excited. _When she sees the house… Ohh!_

_I hope Bella likes what we did with her house. I couldn't allow that my children were too far away from us._ Esme, of course.

Emmett, was internally complaining. _Damn! That house isn't going to last too long, It's such smallness. I bet that for tomorrow there would be nothing._

Jasper was coming with them, of course.

"Finally," I said, my look was on the outside, waiting for the others to come into everyone's view.

_There they're coming, the other parasites._ Leah complained while she got up and hid behind a bush.

The four of them jumped over the river, Alice and Esme first, and then Emmett and Jasper.

Of course it had to be Alice and Emmett the ones who made their jumps a little bit more exciting than Esme's and Jasper's.

Emmett jumped over the water making it to splash reaching even the back windows.

_That's how it's done._ He thought while he reached the other side.

Alice smiled hugely when she walked into the room. Her thoughts were directed at me, and she quickly showed me everything they had done to the house. Explaining to me what it was the first thing I had to do as soon as were inside.

_Sorry for the delay, Edward. But it's, you know, that wardrobe… the furniture… it was all perfect!_

They all smiled at Bella, and for her expression, she didn't like what she saw in Alice. The smile was unforgettable, it was always the same when she was about to give something.

_Oh, my dear Bella, I hope she likes it._ Esme was begging that Bella weren't going to refuse the house.

And, of course, it wasn't just one gift, but two.

Alice got ahead to everyone, she stretched her hand where the key that would open our new house was and gave it to Bella.

Bella changed Renesmee from one arm to the another one so she could take the key, without knowing what it was about.

Alice dropped the key on her hand. _This is so exciting!_

"Happy birthday!"

To our surprise, Bella rolled her eyes. "No one starts counting on the actual day of birth. Your first birthday is at the year mark, Alice."

_Oh, so innocent Bella, Edward, you have to make her more keen._

Still smiling, Alice corrected her. "We're not celebrating your vampire birthday. Yet. It's September thirteenth, Bella. Happy nineteenth birthday!"

She would have to have seen that one coming from Alice.

At least the presents didn't have anything to do with her birthday, the date had gotten in the way almost ironically, and Alice had celebrated it when she realized it.

I almost hoped, almost fervently, that she loved her new home.

Because there would the where our daughter would grow up. Where we would raise our baby.

Where we would be a family.

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**Hope you'd enjoyed this chapter, and I'll be waiting your reviews.**


	25. Chapter 24, SURPRISE

**Yeah, yeah, I know what you're gonna think. This girl, what's she doing, all the drama with that message and she's updating? :P**

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**I've taken the decision of giving you a second chance at this. I'm updating a new chapter, and then I'll decide to keep posting here in FanFiction, or doing what I had already told you in my message. I have the mails of those who do want the following chapters of the story sent to them, so I will send them in case I decide to make good on what I told you before.**

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CHAPTER 24. Surprise

I had known very well since before Alice came back what would be Bella's reaction to those words. She had tried all the possible to try to not get to her eighteen years old first, and then her nineteen years. It was obvious that Alice wasn't telling her that she was actually nineteen years old, but it _was_ her nineteenth birthday. At least she had nineteen years in this world, existing.

What was the problem? I perfectly remembered how she had told me in our honeymoon that she wanted to wait, that she wanted to be human for a while longer.

"_Still… eighteen, nineteen. It's really not such a big difference."_

"No. No way!" Bella said, while she shook her head quickly. Then she turned to see me, and I smiled at her, almost _smugly._ Just because I knew that she was the one who still wished she was seventeen years old, and I her nineteen years. "No, this doesn't count. I stopped aging three days ago. I am eighteen forever."

_You are still the smallest kid from the family, Edward. Well, after Renesmee._ Alice joked around while she returned her attention to Bella and her tantrum.

"Whatever," Alice told her while shrugging. "We're celebrating anyway, so suck it up."

Bella sighed, Alice had already seen a second before I did that this would happen. Still, she liked to play.

Her smiled became even bigger when she saw that her vision hadn't failed her, and of anticipation. She already wanted to see Bella's face when she saw what was her gift. She still couldn't see whether she'd like it or not, because Bella had no idea of what was it.

"Are you ready to open your present?"

"Presents," I corrected Alice.

_Oh, yeah. The Ferrari, right. You know? That's even easier, Bella'll take it but…_

I neither needed a vision to know that Bella would not be even a little bit excited with her second gift, but it was hers.

_It'd be better for you to wait for Jacob and Seth to be awake_. Alice recommended me, more because of the fact that she didn't want to waste more time and go straight toward the gift she _brought_, from all of the family.

I took my hand to the pocket of my jeans to get the key of her new car out. I was sure that when she saw it she would know what it was.

_Edward! Don't you dare._ Alice warned me.

"Mine first," Alice insisted, then she stuck her little tongue at me. _Though yours it's closer._

"Mine is closer," I insisted, too.

Would she even use it? I had no idea, perhaps yes, perhaps no. That I would know later, though seeing her behavior and how all her personality had stayed completely the same way it had been when she was human – something that wasn't rare – I bet that it wouldn't excite her, and wouldn't use it.

Bella didn't like sports cars and the speed like all my family seemed to like us.

"But look at how she's dressed." Alice complained.

I would have told her that she shouldn't worry about that tonight, but it would be too much to reveal that in front of my family, so I held back.

"It's been killing me all day. That is clearly the priority." Alice finished.

I looked at Bella frowning when she heard Alice. It seemed, nor had her sense of style or her taste for new clothes and fast cars changed.

It made me glad to see that she was the same Bella that a few days ago still blushed with my smiles.

"I know – I'll play you for it. Rock, paper, scissors." Alice offered.

_Typical Alice. Like she didn't know._ Jasper chuckled.

I sighed, Jasper was right. "Why you don't you just tell who wins?"

It was almost stupid to expect that it was me who would win in this occasion. With Alice, you never win. One way or another, she always got her way, as it surely would be this time.

_Oh, well, if you insist…_ she told me joking.

Alice was even happier than before. The excitement was almost impossible for her to hide. "I win. Excellent."

_Even you knew, Edward. Ha._

I decided to take Alice's advice about the Ferrari and the wolves. "It's probably better that I wait for the morning." I turned towards Bella and smiled at her. Then I nodded toward Jacob and Seth who were asleep on the couch, completely unaware for what was happening at the moment around them. They would be there all night long. It was something good that we weren't going to be here to listen to Rosalie whining about the smell all night, too. "I think it might be more fun if Jacob was awake for the big reveal, don't you agree? So that someone there is able to express the right level of enthusiasm?"

Bella smiled openly at me. I could imagine what was going through her mind. Maybe if the car would have been her old Chevy back, she would have been excited.

But everyone, including myself, hated that truck.

"Yay. Bella, give Ness – Renesmee to Rosalie."

It was going to be a problem if everyone kept correcting themselves that way in front of Bella. At least she hadn't complained about the name with no one, except Jacob himself, of course.

Deeply, I knew that no one would stop saying it, and that at the end, Bella and I would be the ones who ended up accepting her nickname. Maybe I would do it much sooner than she would, hearing it in everyone's minds was an extra problem Bella didn't have.

"Where does she usually sleep?" Bella asked.

_With me,_ Rosalie thought happily, _or with Jacob._ Her tone changed to irritated. With Esme, too, sometimes. The grandma was delighted when it was her turn.

Through my mind passed quickly the reaction that would have had _my_ mother – Elizabeth – if she would've met Renesmee or even Bella.

Alice shrugged and answered her. "In Rose's arms. Or Jacob's. Or Esme's. You get the picture. She has never been set down in her entire life. She's going to be the most spoiled half-vampire in existence."

I laughed, that was completely true. We would see if when having her bedroom ready she would want to sleep in her own crib or if she'd rather sleep in her mother's arms.

Mmm… I was hoping it was the first option.

_Nessie, so beautiful. But she won't be only the most spoiled…_

Rosalie came over and took Renesmee in her arms, happy to have her back with her. "She is also the most unspoiled half-vampire in existence. The beauty of being one of a kind."

She smiled at Bella when she had Renesmee in her arms.

_Another sister, and she made me aunt._ Rosalie was thinking while she saw Bella as much as she saw Renesmee.

I would have never, ever imagined that there would be a baby in the family, much less that it would be in the family thanks to Bella, who she had hated so much since the beginning, and me.

I could see that all the frictions between us had been left behind, as if they had never existed. I was glad.

In this moment, I also could see more clearly how what Rosalie had told me two days ago had been completely true. Even when I had seen in her mind and she had assured me that she now felt a true feeling of sisterhood towards Bella, it was much easier to see that it was true by having her smiling that way and seeing her thoughts. There was no resentment in them, there was only happiness for seeing that our family was united, and together for the eternity.

I knew that it would make Bella happy too to know that Rosalie now did accept her and even loved her.

It made me happy.

_Well, it's time. She needs to start seeing what clothes to wear and how to not destroy them. At least she won't have to hunt in a week at least._

Alice turned towards Bella and pushed the key into her hand. Then she took her from her elbow to turn her towards the exit.

_Edward, let's go._ Alice told me.

Esme spoke to me before we got out. _I hope you like it, son._

"Let's go, let's go." Alice was almost desperate to get Bella to _open_ her gift.

"Is it outside?" Bella asked.

"Sort of." Alice told her while she pushed her forward so we would get out of there.

"Enjoy your gift. It's from all of us. Esme especially." Rosalie said to her now that could yet.

"Aren't you coming, too?"

_What do you want us for? She may want us to not sleep. Ha ha._ Emmett made fun of it with me.

"We'll give you a chance to appreciate alone. You can tell us about it… later."

Carlisle and Esme were hugging each other while they saw us three getting out. Esme, more than anyone, was overflowing with happiness by seeing that storm was over, and that finally we had found a little peace after all this time.

Esme was remembering the so many times that she had tried to convince me that everything would work out well, while I was with Bella, and before and after that stupid decision of leaving her.

Emmett didn't hold his laughter any longer and burst into laughs.

_If the house survives, and you little brother…_ Emmett _joked_ again. Thinking on the extreme strength Bella had for being a newborn.

And that with just a hug she had made me say _ow_ when she woke up.

He would make fun of that for the next decade, I was almost sure. I grimaced at him before leaving, and Emmett raised his eyebrows.

_What? It's true._

We got out the house hurriedly because of Alice's anxiety, then, everyone else said goodbye quietly, and I listened to them getting back to their stuffs as soon as were getting away.

_This is exciting. I already want to see her face._ Alice kept chanting the same thing while we were going to the river. _We made a good job, I think._ Alice told me, showing me again how the house was so I could give Bella a tour when we got in.

I was wondering, when seeing how the house was, if Bella would like it. It was the kind of things that Bella liked, but the answer would remain a doubt.

I never got her reactions right. I was only expecting it to be how I was expected it to.

The house was smaller than any of our properties. Esme had found it from the very first time we had come to the state of Washington a few decades ago. I couldn't even consider it a house, it was more like a cottage. Still, Esme had decided to remodel it, it was the closest property to our house, and as she had told me before leaving to Isle Esme, she didn't want us far away from them. But she had also thought, that being newlyweds, we would want a place to live just the two of us for a while.

I wondered idly, while we were nearing to the river, if soon there would be the opportunity that Bella knew the place I had chosen in New Hampshire.

Bella's and Rosalie's tastes were very different, Emmett had said that thinking about Rose.

But the way it was, the stones floors and the brown colors, the furniture all different but somehow Esme always found the way to make them match, the paintings on the walls that she had chosen from our house for Bella, they were some of her favorites. Mostly, the bedroom, I was sure that it would such a great surprise for Bella when she saw it. It would almost like getting back to Isle Esme. The bed, the view to the outside, Esme had really tried hard on bringing some stuff from Isle Esme, guessing that we had loved that place, especially Bella.

It would our _second_ honeymoon almost on the same way as it had been our first honeymoon.

Bella smiled hugely, and Alice interpreted her smile as excitement.

She hit lightly her elbow, and told her. "There's the enthusiasm I'm looking for."

_I hope you can show the right level of enthusiasm, too._ Alice told me, echoing the lines she had used with Bella, while she released her by the arm to jump over the river.

"C'mon, Bella." Alice called her from across.

_Right… now._ Alice said while she saw Bella on the second she decided to jump, making that I, unconsciously followed her next words, jumping at the same time that Bella did.

I wondered what Bella was thinking now that it was nighttime. The darkness was no problem to us.

Alice ran towards north where our new home was, the entire time she was considering the option of making this gift a real _surprise_. I would have commented something to her thoughts if it weren't for the fact that Bella could now listen to even the softer whisper of the wind, so I held back and just listened to what she planned.

Through my mind passed the comment that Jacob had done while Bella was still pregnant.

_If he succeeded with this, if Bella lived, Edward wasn't going to be able to get away with so much when her senses were as sharp as his. He'd have to work on the honesty thing._

Alice and her ideas distracted me from that memory, that was still on the bunch I didn't want to remember.

Her ideas were always a bit exaggerated and she tended to get away with her ideas, anyway, so there wasn't any point on chastising her for what she was planning either way.

At the last second, she decided that she'd climb on Bella's back, because Bella was a little bit taller than her, so she would obstruct her eyes and she wouldn't look at anything until we were right in front of the door. I knew what would happen if she did it without warning Bella about it, I had just seen it in her visions, and the answer was obvious, too, because any of us would have reacted the same way. But, trusting that her personal control was still as efficient as from the beginning, she decided to try.

_Here, if we go any farther Bella'll see her gift before it's time._ Alice thought while she stopped.

_Okay, Edward, watch my back._ Alice told me before turning towards Bella.

We both stopped and Alice came to us.

"Don't attack me," she said to her before getting to Bella's back.

"What are you doing?" Bella asked, while she twitched. I was sure that she felt the need of throwing Alice away, but she controlled herself somehow.

I would never get tired of getting impressed at the control I could see on her.

_Good, Edward, no I'll cover her eyes up, eh? You're guiding our way._

"Making sure you can't see." Alice explained.

At this moment it seemed infantile to me what Alice was doing, but I also knew that though I told her, there would be no way of making her change her mind.

"I could take care of that without the theatrics." I said to Alice, that quickly refused, of course.

_Yeah, right. And I'm still naïve._ Alice answered skeptically.

"You might let her cheat. Take her hand and lead her forward."

"Alice, I-" Bella said but Alice interrupted her.

"Don't bother, Bella. We're going this my way."

I took Bella's hand and intertwined our fingers. It had been several hours since I had had her hand in mine, and it felt good. I tried to make her feel better about Alice, knowing that my words would bother my sister in a way. "Just a few seconds more, Bella. Then she'll go annoy someone else." I told her, while I was pulling her forward as Alice had asked me to.

"You might be a little more appreciative. This is as much for you as it is for her." She said while sticking her tongue at me.

_You neither have told me what you think, huh._

"True." I answered to both comments. "Thank you again, Alice."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay."

We kept walking for a few more seconds when we walked into the place we had so waited for. New smells got to us while we were getting closer. I could assure that Bella could notice them, too, though she didn't say anything.

_There it is, Edward. Let's hope Bella loves it. Esme really did her best._

"Stop there." Alice almost yelled at me out of excitement, pointing at a place right on the beginning of a little stone path that was leading to the front door. "Turn her just a little to the right. Yes, like that. Okay. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," Bella answered.

_Well, we'll finally see if she likes it or not._ Alice thought, with a little fear over Bella's reaction.

Everyone else hadn't wanted to come so they wouldn't force Bella to give a positive answer, or like I had said, to not force her to show excitement when she saw her gift. If there would have been some way, Alice wouldn't have come either, but she couldn't stand the idea of not seeing Bella's face and most of all her reaction. In spite of her fear, I didn't have to read Bella's mind nor seeing the future to know that Bella would love it.

Alice took her hand off Bella's eyes, letting her see what she had in front of her, and then she climbed down from her back.

Neither Alice nor I said one single word while we watched Bella's face and any sign or change in her expression that could tell us what was she was feeling. There was nothing to see, there was no expression to read, her face was black with surprise.

I listened how her hand squeezed a bit the hand she was carrying.

I had to accept it, I did like it and considering Bella's tastes and mine were very different, I wondered, if after all, I would have gotten her reaction right. It would be almost surreal that Bella hated it or less dramatic, didn't like it.

Alice was too much anxious for hearing the answer, but she kept silent while we waited for Bella to say something, or finished appreciating what she was seeing.

I could definitely see us here, I could see Renesmee and Bella walking over the stone path that led to the door, hand in hand. I could see them walking into the house to rest after a long day. The forest in front of us as our personal garden. I remembered our meadow, and thought that we should take Renesmee soon.

The only thing I was waiting for at that moment, was that Bella could also visualize herself and Renesmee and me in this house that'd be our home.

_Oh, enough, I have to say something._ Alice said, in a tone that was quite despite her anxiety.

How did she manage to control herself? I had no idea.

When she spoke, it was in the same tone. "What do you think?"

Bella opened her mouth but didn't say anything. Curiosity was burning inside of me, almost the same way that did on Alice. I had to know what she was thinking.

"Esme thought we might like a place of our own for a while, but she didn't want us too far away. And she loves any excuse to renovate. This little place has been crumbling away out here for at least a hundred years." I told her, expecting Bella to say something.

But again nothing, her mouth was open while she kept watching what was in front of her.

Every time she did this, that she kept quiet while everyone else, especially me, were waiting for her to end with her silence, frustrated me even more and more, but there wasn't anything that I could do to see inside of her mind.

Alice misunderstood her silence, and without being able to stay silent, she started speaking. "Don't you like it? I mean, I'm sure we could fix it up differently, if you want. Emmett was all for adding a few thousand square feet, a second story, columns, and a tower, but Esme thought you would like it best the way it was meant to look."

I frowned when I listened to Alice's description and what Emmett had wanted to do. It was clear that he'd had in mind Rosalie's taste by offering those changes.

He didn't know Bella at all if he'd thought of adding all of that. I was glad that Esme hadn't listened to him.

"If she was wrong, we can get back to work. It won't take long to—"

"Shh!" Bella shushed her.

I smiled while Bella kept staring and Alice tightened shut her lips so she wouldn't speak until Bella said something.

It took several seconds, and Alice was getting anxious again.

What was with her and her impatience? We had so much time for waiting Bella to say something.

Yes, we did, and just thinking about it got me on a good mood even when I was still frustrated for her lack of response.

"You're giving me a house for my birthday?" Bella barely whispered. Her eyes were still on the house.

"Us. And it's no more than a cottage. I think the words house implies more legroom." I corrected her.

"No knocking my house." Bella told me.

_So…_ "You like it."

Bella shook her head, and instead of thinking the worst, considering Bella's words, Alice knew what Bella meant.

"Love it?"

Without saying, again, another words, Bella just nodded.

Alice exploded with happiness and excitement when she saw Bella's response. It was what she had been waiting for since the moment they had left the house to get to us. I was, too, happy that Bella loved it. The only thing that was missing for making it perfect, was having Renesmee in her home soon. They hadn't had enough time to fix her bedroom.

_Oh, I wish Esme would have been here now. But the second gift would have been ruined._

If I had been able to blush, I would have been like Bella when she was still human when I heard about the _second_ gift from our family.

"I can't wait to tell Esme!"

It almost surprised me that Alice didn't sprint off back towards the house to tell them all.

"Why didn't she come?" Bella asked.

_Ahmm… do I have to answer?_ Alice asked me hesitating, of course I didn't tell her anything, she had to do it. Bella wouldn't let her go.

Alice's face twisted when she saw she was forced to answer. "Oh, you know… they all remember how you are about presents. They didn't want to put you under too much pressure to like it."

"But of course I love it. How could I not?" Bella told her.

"They'll like that." Alice said to her, while she patted her arm before leaving. "Anyhow, your closet is stocked. Use it wisely. And… I guess that's everything."

"Aren't you going to come inside?"

_Of course not._ Alice thought, while she took a few steps back. "Edward knows his way around. I'll stop by… later. Call me if you can't match your clothes right."

_Which I doubt, that she'll match them and call me._

Alice smiled. "Jazz wants to hunt. See ya." She said, and then she disappeared into the woods, suddenly anxious of getting back.

Bella didn't say anything for a few seconds.

Soon, I couldn't listen to not even Alice's thoughts while she got away.

I was wondering what was what Bella was thinking, and as if she had heard my doubt, Bella spoke. "That was weird. Am I really that bad? They didn't have to stay away. Now I feel guilty. I didn't even thank her right. We should go back, tell Esme-"

"Bella, don't be silly. No one thinks you're that unreasonable." I assured her before she kept thinking that way.

This was still her night and she had to enjoy it. Her gifts…

"Then what-"

"Alone time is their other gift. Alice was trying to be subtle about it."

"Oh."

Bella kept staring at my face, while I stared back at hers. It was as if there wasn't anything else around us, I felt how the magnetic force that had _forced_ me to be with her without letting me escape from falling in love with her from the beginning, was around us again. Like this little place was our own bubble…

There wasn't anything else in this world that could pull me away from her, nothing or no one now.

The only thing that mattered at the moment, was that I had her with me, and that it would be that way for eternity. Just thinking about that, made me internally shudder of excitement.

Again, the curiosity floated in my mind, wondering what was Bella thinking now.

Somehow, the house cam back to my mind, and I remembered what we had been about to do a moment ago, to know our new home. "Let me show you what they've done."

I took her hand, and with the emotion I was feeling in the moment, the electric current that I felt every time I had her skin on mine, ran through me more strongly. It was pleasurable feeling, and I knew it wouldn't last long before having her close to me soon.

I would have the excuse in a few moments.

Bella didn't say anything, but I saw something in her expression that reminded me of her human days. Her reactions every time I touched her, even in the most casual moments.

Her heart would always react, her beats would always get faster or sometimes stopped. I always wondered what was in me to be able to cause such reactions in an angel as beautiful as her. But again, I knew that if I had been human, too, my heart would have reacted just as hers.

My breathing too would have become harder when I would get closer to her to kiss her, and not for fearing to kill her, but for anticipated pleasure.

Her cheeks would have been blushed with a beautiful red.

But all of that, everything I had once thought I'd miss so much when losing it when Bella became one of us, was nothing at all at this moment, having Bella holding my hand. Knowing that she'd be with me for the eternity.

It was an insignificant detail.

Bella laughed, then, as if was also agreeing with what I had just thought.

I knew she was. It was her who had insisted on being with me, from the beginning, and now, finally, she saw her wish, our wish fulfilled.

"Do I get to hear the joke?" I asked her.

We started walking towards the door, while Bella answered. "It's not a very good one." She told me. "I was just thinking – today is the first and last day of forever. It's kind of hard to wrap my head around it. Even with all this extra room for wrapping."

Bella laughed again, and as it always happened to me, I laughed when hearing her. She was right in what she said. It had happened to us all something like that.

I raised my hand towards the doorknob, and pointed it for Bella to be the one who opened it. After all, it was her gift, and I could enjoy it with her, too. Even Nessie.

Bella stuck the key in and turned it.

"You're such a natural at this, Bella; I forget how very strange this all must be for you. I wish I could hear it."

And as I couldn't help it any longer, I bent down to take her in my arms. They were the only arms where Bella would be the rest of our eternity.

Only having her with me, even now that she was so unbreakable as I was, it was when I felt her safe.

Mi protector instinct would never leave maybe.

"Hey!"

"Thresholds are part of my job description." I told her. "But I'm curious. Tell me what you're thinking about right now."

While I told her that I opened the door, and we walked through the threshold to the inside of our new home.

"Everything. All at the same time, you know. Good things and things to worry about and things that are new. How I keep using too many superlatives in my head. Right now, I'm thinking that Esme is an artist. It's so perfect!"

I could see her eyes looking over every corner of the house, and her look reminded of that she'd had in Isle Esme. The difference was that here there wasn't recognition, because though Esme designed our properties the same way, using the same colors, this one was different in all aspects. The colors were warm, just like Bella. It didn't matter that she weren't human anymore, her essence kept having that warm that had always emanated from her.

It was as if the Bella in my arms were the same Bella I had met, that human and full of life Bella. With her chocolate brown eyes and her red cheeks.

Looking at her face, I remembered the many time I had thought, that I had believed that by giving up our mortality for immortality, we lost our souls.

"_How many people in this room have a soul? A shot at heaven, or whatever there is after this life?"_

"_Two."_ Bella had answered without a second of hesitation.

At that moment, I had only smiled when I listened to the confidence in her answer. How could she know, how could she be so sure?

Maybe she wasn't the only one who believed in vampires myths.

But, now, right this moment, while I was staring at her immortal face, even when I myself had swore that we didn't have souls, even when I saw my family and sometimes I doubted my belief, it wasn't anything similar to the doubt that was getting into my at this moment.

How could it be possible that a being as good and pure as Bella didn't have a soul, even when she were going to live for an eternity?

For the first time, in my long existence, I believed truly and with all my might, that Bella was right about it.

It was hard to believe that Bella, if she were going to live this world, even when it hurt me so much to consider the idea, didn't have a better place to go after.

To get to heaven, and at least to have the right of being judged for what she had done in this world.

There wouldn't be doubts of her presence in heaven.

I would make sure of keeping her away from temptation. She hadn't broken any rule that forbid her heaven. I'd fulfill my promise. Every one and each of the promises I had once made to her. The most important of them all, make her happy and love her everyday of forever.

The image of Renesmee showed in my mind, not only would be Bella who I'd make happy and love, my daughter too, our daughter.

When I felt Bella's eyes on my face, I knew that she had finished admiring the work Esme had done.

"We're lucky Esme thought to add an extra room. No one was planning for Ness—Renesmee."

Bella frowned, and I knew perfectly well why. "Not you, too."

"Sorry, love. I hear it in their thoughts all the time, you know. It's rubbing off on me." I told her, and Bella sighed.

I decided to change the subject, something that distracted her almost completely. And so, we would also keep our tour though the house. "I'm sure you're dying to see the closet. Or, at least I'll tell Alice that you were, to make her feel good."

"Should I be afraid?"

You have no idea, I thought. The closet was overwhelmingly bigger than our bedroom.

Esme and Alice had had an argument just because of that part of the house. Knowing that neither Bella nor I needed something that big, after all, Alice only allowed us to wear one set of clothes per day, and then she almost take them roughly away from us to replace them with a new one.

Then, what was there a need to give so much to Bella for? Especially, when she knew that my angel wasn't an addict to fashion clothing like her.

"Terrified."

I took her in my arms through the hall towards our bedroom. Close to ours was the one that would be Renesmee's when Esme and Alice were done decorating it.

While we were getting nearer, each step that took us towards our bedroom, the electric current that ran through me was unstoppable, getting stronger. It seemed that we were walking toward the same place from the first time, it almost seemed the night of our honeymoon.

"That will be Renesmee's room." I told her, while I pointed with my head toward an empty room. "They didn't have time to do much with it, what with the angry werewolves..."

Bella laughed quietly. And though I didn't ask her what was the _joke_ now, curiosity was in my mind, but it was easier to ignore than I would have thought possible. My mind was busy with other things more interesting.

Like the fact that we were closer to our room…

We got the last door, I opened it and we walked in. It was as if we were back on Isle Esme.

"Here's our room. Esme tried to bring some of her island back here for us. She guessed that we would get attached."

Again, Bella looked over the room, and after a few second, she whispered. "Oh."

We both stayed there standing. Memories of every minute that we had been on Isle Esme passed through my mind.

It was so different this honeymoon, that we almost seemed other ones. She was other one, not completely. But at least I wouldn't have to worry about hurting her or killing her. I could love her in an intense way without any more restrictions.

I shuddered with pleasure by considering that.

Images kept passing through like a film.

"_We belong together."_ Bella had told me in a whisper while we were at the beach.

"_Forever."_

Forever, that word resonated in my mind, now more than ever.

All the eternity was opening up in front of us. And there wasn't anything that could make me happier. Nothing more than to be with her. It was what I had always wanted, what she had always wanted and for stupid I had refused.

None of that mattered now.

Then another matter crossed my mind. Bella was no longer human, and though I had seen and she had said herself that still wanted me, would it be that way?

"_You are so human, Bella."_ I had told her that night that had been too much for us and I had giving in to her desires, finally. _"Ruled by your hormones."_

"_That's the whole point, Edward. I like this part of being human. I don't want to give it up yet. I don't want to wait through years of being a blood-crazed newborn for some part of this to come back to me."_

I shook off those thoughts. It seemed like I didn't know Bella, like being a newborn vampire were going to be an obstacle for her, or even me. Honestly, I didn't care.

"_I have not had enough."_ She had told me while her hand ran over my chest.

It was almost surreal that that was what at the end, would make Bella accept to wait a little while longer as human to then become a vampire and join me in eternity. I should have known that that would be the best way, even when it didn't come true and instead of having a few years as human, she got Renesmee, now I could see it as a blessing instead of a curse.

"_Do you want to swim with the dolphins this afternoon—burn off the calories?"_

"_Maybe later. I had another idea for burning calories."_

"_And what was that?"_

"_Well, there's an awful lot of headboard left—"_

It had been a while since I had had Bella that way.

But I would wait for her to appreciate her present. She didn't even know where the closet was, that Alice had so nicely stocked herself.

I smiled hugely, guessing Bella's reaction when she saw it. "The closet is through those double doors. I should warn you—it's bigger than this room."

Bella did not even turn to see toward the closet I had pointed at her. There was nothing else or even words that explained to me the reason of her lack of interest. If it would have been _my_ gift, I neither would have turned to see having her in front of me.

I didn't need any more hints, I wrapped my arms around her, my lips just a few inches from hers, and anxieties filling me the closer mine were of hers.

Bella put her hands on my head. "We're going to tell Alice that I ran right into the clothes." She said to me, while her fingers intertwined in my hair, her hands pulling my face closer to hers, and I let her pulled me without hesitation. "We're going to tell her I spent hours in there playing dress-up. We're going to lie."

I pulled her face to mine, suddenly anxious for having her lips on mine and not having to get away from her for not even a second. It was as if my mind had gone blank and there was nothing else in this planet than the two of us.

Her lips touched mine, and the sensation was simply wonderful. I heard a moan getting out of my mouth and I felt Bella respond to me with the same intensity.

There was no fear, there was no hesitation, there was no more wait for us, we could be fully together, no restrictions, and that excited me even more than having her with me, because for the first time I would be able to enjoy of having her completely.

The fabric of our clothing tearing up under our hands, brought to my memory that second night by her side. That night when her seduction had gone just too far, to the point of destroying my personal control, the oath I had made to myself of not being with her until she were a vampire. I had given up to her with a growl, and her gown had ended up shredded apart just like now were our clothes. Just that the only difference, was that Bella was also destroying mine. I knew that if she were human, her cheeks would have been blushing red scarlet.

And without even thinking about it, we were on the floor instead of on the bed in the middle of the room.

If I had thought that being with Bella while she was human, and that that night had been the best night of my life, I had been wrong. There was no comparison to this night. I still could not believe – not even having Bella in my arms and with all the feelings and emotions running through my entire body while Bella did the same – that I were capable of feeling this way.

But I knew that it was the best night of my existence just because I was with Bella.

After a few minutes, Bella watched my face, while her hands ran over my chest, and I would have never expected what words would've gotten out of her mouth.

"And I thought I knew you better than me," she whispered, her eyes looking over every part of my body that was at her reach.

I chuckled, and Bella silenced me with another passionate kiss.

I had no idea that I was capable of feeling more love for her that the one it already filled me.

If Bella thought that I was different – as I surely was when seeing me with her new eyes – she didn't have any idea of I saw her, how I felt under my fingers, how was her taste, her desirable floral smell mixed with honey, if it had been the sweetest one I've ever smelled, now it was much more potent. Her face was as soft as it had been when she was human, my hands could feel her softness so easily that it was difficult for me to raise my hands from her face to another place, her lips were as soft and desirable that it cost me hard work to get away from them to taste her.

Her tongue made a path over the skin of my throat, making me shudder with pleasure.

"This is so much better," she whispered against my throat.

"Better?" I asked her when I felt her hands again twisted in my hair.

I smiled, and something occurred to me.

Before I could even notice what she was planning, I had Bella on me.

I smiled at her, I could feel the playful tone in my eyes when she saw surprised. "This is better."

Bella smiled and we started where we had left of.

While I was kissing her and we were one, I remembered the promise I had made to Bella while we were still waiting Renesmee to be born.

It took me several minutes to part from her mouth and from her skin to remind her that promise.

I stopped her for a moment, and her eyes seemed frightened again, as if she were waiting for my rejection. How could she think that right this moment?

I brought her face to mine slowly, as if I were hesitating, as if I were taking care of her like when she was human. Her eyes recognized my hesitation and the look in my eyes, and she frowned a bit.

I smiled at her gently. "I don't have to worry about you attacking me, right?"

Bella smiled, and for what I saw in her eyes, I could see that she remembered the day that I had used that word to describe her reaction to our first kiss. "Show-off." She repeated the same word than that day.

"No," I told her, just like that time, making it become engraved in her mind. "I was thinking there was something I wanted to try."

I took her face between my hands, Bella stopped her breathing, and I hesitated. Then our lips touched softly, and I kissed her. Just like that afternoon, Bella kissed me with more intensity and her breathing became gasp, her fingers twisted in my hair, her lips parted, and I stopped. I took her face in my hands to get her face apart from mine, and Bella opened her eyes.

"Oops," she murmured.

She clearly remembered our moments together better than I had idea.

Bella returned her lips to mine and her attention to the way our bodies were united. Her hands touched over all my face, as if she were trying to memorize it with just touching it. Her fingers played in my hair, and it was a wonderful feeling.

I couldn't help moaning again, and her kiss became more intense.

Seconds passed and there never seemed to be some moment in which I were going to get tired of this. Physically, there was no possible way, but emotionally, there was simply no way of that at some moment I would stop wanting to have her body on mine, every line of her figure to my reach, my hands on her face, her neck, her back, everything…

Thousands of sensations were running through every part of my body while Bella and I were one. I couldn't believe that I was capable of feeling so much, I couldn't believe that after so much pain, Bella was finally with me for the entire existence.

And the most wonderful, that I had been capable of making her be a mom, to give her a daughter, and she was the most beautiful creature on this planet, after her mother, of course.

Never, not even if I lived for a hundred thousand more years, could I find the reason why I had won the love of an angel so pure and beautiful like Bella, how had I been able to give her something I had never thought I could, something I'd give up on being a vampire for, a daughter. Now there were two important people in my life, my own family.

Bella got away from me suddenly, but not enough to be separated for more than an inch.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked her, confused by her reaction to something I hadn't felt.

"No – the opposite," she said to me, and her words reminded me of something. "you're driving me crazy."

And then, I understood. More memories.

"Really?" I asked her, content that it was that. I smiled at her the same way that that first night in her room. It was one of my favorite nights, as I had once told her.

"Would you like a round of applause?"

I grinned hugely, and continued with the memory. "I'm just pleasantly surprised," he clarified. "In the last hundred years or so. I never imagined anything like this. I didn't believe I would ever find someone I wanted to be with… in another way than my brothers and sisters. And then to find, even though it's all new to me, that I'm good at it… at being with you…"

"You're good at everything." Bella reminded me, I shrugged and then we both laughed.

Her lips were back to mine, ending that memory.

Only she had the power to make me speak or silence the moment she wanted me to. The only thing I wanted was to give her what she wished, and if in that moment was not speaking, well… who was I to deny me to her wishes?

"I can't believe nightmare's gotten behind us," Bella commented me several hours after our last words. The memories were no longer necessary for the moment. There would be a lot of time for that. All eternity!

I lightly smiled, and nodded. "I know what you mean."

It was as if I were never going to be able to get away from her, but deeply in my head I knew, that at least this day, we couldn't continue though we wanted to.

Now there were responsibilities for both of us that we didn't have before. We were parents, and I was sure that Renesmee would be waiting for Bella to come in a few hours. Anxious to show her all her memories, too.

After a while, the sun was barely wanting to rise from its hiding place, when Bella spoke again, surprising a bit with her words.

"Do you miss it?"

I didn't quite understand what was the point of her question. What could I miss when I had absolutely everything?

"Miss what?" I asked her, curious for hearing what she was thinking.

"All of it – the warmth, the soft skin, the tasty smell… I'm not losing anything at all, and I just wondered if it was a little bit sad for you that you were."

I laughed, understanding what Bella was talking about. But I didn't have any idea of why she was saying that, much less that her supposition was absolutely wrong. I had told her once, when she had told me that she was a little bit afraid that I wouldn't want her anymore when she changed, that if that was the reason I had to not want her to become a vampire.

"It would be hard to find someone less sad than I am now. Impossible, I'd venture. Not many people get every single thing they want, plus all the things they didn't think to ask for, in the same day."

And for a part, Bella should fit in that description. I was almost sure.

She was also getting all the things she never thought in asking. A family that wasn't just being part of the Cullens, it was more than that, it was her own family, Cullen Swan. With a husband that loved her unconditionally for the rest of eternity and now a daughter that would love her that same way, too.

"Are you avoiding the question?"

Was it possible that she still doubted her hold on me was unbreakable?

I would have to leave this very clear on her again. Everything to see that Bella was completely sure that what it mattered to me and made me happy, was to have her for eternity, not the characteristics from her human life. Because I really was not losing any of them, they'd just changed a bit.

I took my hand to her check and pressed softly. "You are warm."

Her skin didn't have the same degree of warm than before, of course, any other person, human, would notice the coldness of our skin, but being equals now, there wasn't any difference. It happened the same with a human, but vice versa. His skin was warm and they don't notice the difference, but if one of them is cold, the other one notices it. Bella should notice that point.

Soft skin Bella had said, her skin was so soft or even softer than how it had been while she was human, I had to let it clear.

I stretched my hand over her face, and then with my fingertips I ran over her face and then her throat to her chin. I touched every inch of her skin to her waist. With pleasure by seeing how her eyes unfocused a bit while I ran over her body feeling an electric current. The current that emanated from her, made me want to show her more of her soft skin.

"You are soft."

The last thing was the smell, I wondered quickly how could I explain to her that I didn't miss that either.

"And as for the scent, well, I couldn't say I missed that. Do you remember the scent of those hikers on our hunt?"

I was hoping the memory didn't make her suffer, as would it be normal. But I hadn't found any other better comparison. It was exactly the way her smell was now. Irresistible.

"I've been trying very hard not to." Bella told me.

She may change her mind if she saw from my point of view. "Imagine kissing that."

"Oh."

It was obvious she had understood what I meant.

"Precisely. So the answer is no. I am purely full of joy, because I am missing nothing. No one has more than I do now."

Bella kissed me again, but I was almost sure of what she would've said.

There could only be one exception to my words, Bella.

Never, not even when I met Bella, when she had accepted me as I was and swore that she would rather die before staying away from me, not even when she accepted me back after having hurt her so much, and when she accepted marrying me and decided that she loved me more than Jacob, not even when we were together that first time, could be compared to the happiness that I now felt. Having her in my arms and knowing that she was safe with me, that there was no more danger or fears when being together of hurting her or killing her, had no comparison. Knowing that our return to the house where our family was, not just Carlisle and Esme, Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, but that also our daughter, waiting for us, Renesmee. Was surreal.

It was the first time in my entire existence, that I could truly say that nothing was missing for me, I didn't have absolutely anything to ask life for now.

There was no need to rest now, Bella wasn't going to lose energy when I most wanted to go on like when she was human, and as if she knew what I was thinking about, Bella spoke again, and the subject of her doubt wasn't very different from what I was thinking.

"How long does this go on?" she asked me when the sun was rising. "I mean, Carlisle and Esme, Em and Rose, Alice and Jasper—they don't spend all day locked in their rooms. They're out in public, fully clothed, all the time. Does this… craving ever let up?" she said while she got closer into me, and I would have preferred to not answer her and go on, but…

"That's difficult to say. Everyone is different and, well, so far you're the very most different of all. The average young vampire is too obsessed with thirst to notice much else for a while. That doesn't seem to apply to you. With the average vampire, though, after that first year, other needs make themselves known. Neither thirst nor any other desire really ever fades. It's simply a matter of learning to balance them, learning to prioritize and manage..."

"How long?" Bella insisted.

I smiled, and then my nose wrinkled remembering those first nights in which Emmett and Rosalie were together, it was nightmare just to remember them. It was one of the first things about having a photographic memory without opportunity of ever forgetting even just one thing. And it had been worse to me, with the fact of being able to read minds. "Rosalie and Emmett were the worst. It took a solid decade before I could stand to be within a five-mile radius of them. Even Carlisle and Esme had a difficult time stomaching it. They kicked the happy couple out eventually. Esme built them a house, too. It was grander than this one, but then, Esme knows what Rose likes, and she knows what you like."

"So, after ten years, then? Everybody is normal again? Like they are now?"

It was almost entertained that Bella asked these things.

I actually didn't know very well what Bella meant with _normal_, but well, I had to explain something of what I guessed Bella wanted to know.

In times like this, it was frustrating to not being able to read her mind and know what was really going through her mind. It would be so much easier…

I smiled at her, and said. "Well, I'm not sure what you mean by normal. You've seen my family going about life in a fairly human way, but you've been sleeping nights." I winked at her, expecting she understood what I meant, and continued. "There's a tremendous amount of time left over when you don't have to sleep. It makes balancing your… interests quite easy. There's a reason why I'm the best musician in the family, why—besides Carlisle—I've read the most books, studied the most sciences, become fluent in the most languages... Emmett would have you believe that I'm such a know-it-all because of the mind reading, but the truth is that I've just had a lot of free time."

But now, I was hoping it was all the opposite.

Maybe it was already time that my free time was over. I had had more than seventy years to do all of that, to read books, to study sciences and languages.

Who cared all of that when I had the most beautiful woman from the planet in my arms?

I certainly did not.

We both laughed, and the movement caused interesting sensations to our bodies intertwined as one. There was no more conversations in long while again.

There weren't enough interesting words to distract me from Bella in that moment.

We had finally reached our endless paradise.

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**So? Isn't it worth a review at all? Please guys, I'm begging you. This is the only fuel I have for wanting to keep writing and updating what I write!**

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	26. Chapter 25, FAVOR

**Hi everyone?**

My mistake, sorry. I updated the wrong chapter. Sorry, again. Here's the right one. With Charlie and everything.

**So? You liked the last chapter, huh?**

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**I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and I really hope you enjoy this new one. The next one is almost done, wait for it next week! =DD**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT**!

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CHAPTER 25. Favor

The only I wanted was to take advantage of the last moments I had with Bella in this moment, Renesmee would be awake soon, and there were more things to worry about this day than just finding her awake already when we got there.

And knowing Renesmee, she'd be anxious to see Bella as soon as possible.

There wasn't anything that I wanted most at this moment than to stay this way with Bella, our bodies made only one – but we would have all night long, so I forced myself to think about everything else – but when I married her, and gave her a daughter, we had taken another new and unexpected responsibility. It wasn't just about our desires now, solely. To know that we had a responsibility with our daughter, now it did make me happy. How I had told Rosalie, now I could be one hundred percent grateful, and even more, for having fought by Bella's side for Renesmee. Our family was intact and bigger.

I could consider Renesmee a blessing, knowing that Bella had not gotten out of my life for giving entrance to her.

It was about seven in the morning, and considering that time in which I had seen Renesmee sleeping and waking these days, it wouldn't take her too long to be waiting for us, Bella especially. It was she who Renesmee wanted to not miss any second of her still too-short life.

Short life, I was hoping it wasn't like that in a future, that our daughter could have a long life like ours.

I stopped for a second, and my eyes rested on her face, to remind her now first-priority. "Renesmee…"

Bella sighed, and I could almost see what was going through her mind by mentioning Renesmee.

What had the most worried to everyone from the moment of her birth. Carlisle had been, maybe, the least surprised with the accelerated growth of Renesmee, considering that it had been like that since she had been conceived.

As soon as I mentioned her and Bella remembered the problem we were facing, I felt how her body froze under mine, and became unresponsive.

I was expecting that, so I told her. "It's all right, love. Get dressed, and we'll be back to the house in two seconds."

What I didn't expect was her reaction to my words. If it hadn't been because we really had to come back and knew that we both wanted to, I would've laughed.

Her head rose towards west where the house was and our family waiting, then back at me, her eyes on my chest where the diffuse sunlight that was already getting into the room and made my body glinted lightly, making the same thing with hers. Her head came and went from one side to the other, like she didn't know what was what she wanted most at the moment.

In just a second, she had made that move more than a dozen times, maybe.

Probably, if I didn't stop her and told her something, it would take us more than two second to get back to the house.

I smiled, seeing how much she wanted as I did to stay, but we both knew for the moment that it was more important to see Renesmee. "It's all about balance, love. You're so good at all of this, I don't imagine it will take too long to put everything in perspective."

Her eyes shined for some reason, that of course, I couldn't see. "And we have all night, right?"

Oh, those simple words barely made me stand having her away from my body during the day hours. But I had more practice than her with my control, even when now, it seemed like she was who had more years in this road than myself.

My smiled grew wider, considering both things. "Do you think I could bear to let you get dressed now if that weren't the case?"

Bella nodded quickly and we got on our feet.

I smiled when I saw her got in without even seeing what was behind those double doors. What a surprise would she have!

Alice had let her imagination flew free in a way that she hadn't even with Rosalie, who would have been fascinated. Not even Alice or Esme had really thought about Bella's closet, or how Alice had convinced her about it, so I didn't actually know how my favorite sister had achieved this. After this, we'd see what Bella thought.

My mind got lost for an instant thinking in some possibilities of what Alice could've told Esme to convince her of doing this.

She had been _generous_, knowing her, to do just one closet for both, and not let this enormity be just for Bella and a littler one for me.

The clothes that were at a reach were the kind of clothes that Bella preferred to avoid and it was _very_ rare I saw her wearing. If she could have, Alice would've thrown all the denim and cotton that was on the closet. But she knew Bella well.

There wasn't anything in this closet, that neither Bella nor I would have seen before. All of this was new, maybe my wardrobe in the house was now empty.

I wondered, absently, how often, or how many clothes had they bought for Renesmee, and where was it stored.

She changed of clothes so fast, that she needed a warehouse or at least a place as big as this one. I could assure, that at least at this point, Renesmee didn't have any problem with, and that Bella had stopped being Alice's Barbie to switch places with Renesmee. I wondered if Renesmee would have any trouble with her aunts over this issue or if being a baby, she didn't care at all about being spoiled that way.

Of course she didn't care, I thought.

Bella distracted me. "Which ones are mine?" her voice came out like a hiss, while her eyes looked over the room.

I stopped beside a row, that according to Alice it was _my_ part of the wardrobe.

"To the best of my knowledge, everything but this rack here-" I told her, while I put my hand so she would see which row I meant, it was a small one that touched the wall to the middle towards the left side of the door. "is yours."

"All of this?" Bella asked, I almost heard her frightened by just considering what was on all of those bags.

What has she been expecting? I had warned her, and it seemed, Bella hadn't believed me, or simply had not heard anything of what I had told her last night.

I shrugged.

"Alice," I said her name, and Bella at the same time. The difference in our tones was obvious.

I smiled lightly when I heard her tone, it seemed like she was saying an obscenity. It almost reminded me of the times in which she had had to say _matrimony_ before getting married.

"Fine," I heard Bella whispering, and then the sound of a zipper being opened.

Bella growled, and I turned to see what she'd found. It seemed she had decided to open the bag that was closer to her, and to her complete horror, what was inside of it was a long silk dress pink color.

It wasn't definitely her style.

Maybe, I wouldn't have been so horrified by seeing it as Bella was either, if the color had been different, I don't know, blue perhaps. Because there wasn't anything that Bella wore or didn't wear that I didn't like seeing it in her.

But, seriously, what had been going through Alice's mind when choosing that dress?

I remembered that Bella, maybe, hadn't realized that everything had its own smell and that she didn't need to look for what she wanted on the manual way, the human way.

"Let me help," I told her.

I sniffed in the air to first find the smell I was looking for. Denim as any other fabric or anything had its own aroma, and as soon as Bella learned that, I was sure that the only things she would get out of those drawers or bags, would be that, denim.

I walked to the back of the room, I almost expected that in some place, almost hidden from everything else, Alice would have saved the pants Bella liked so much to wear.

Said and done, from a drawer they had fixed against the wall came the smell of denim. With each step I took got more potent.

I smelled for the last time before opening the drawer, and as I had thought, there they were, several pants Alice had almost hidden, it seemed.

I grabbed a pair and took it out, I grinned hugely to Bella when I turned around to see her and show her my _discovery_.

Only Alice wouldn't be happy when she saw her.

Bella raised her eyebrows and was at my side in an instant. "How did you do that?"

"Denim has its own scent just like anything else. Now… stretch cotton?"

To the half of a rack, I found what she wanted. Alice truly had made an effort on keeping out of Bella's reach what she's surely want.

I took out one long-sleeves shirt from the bottom of that rack, and then threw it to Bella.

Bella took it, and told me. "Thanks," her voice almost seemed that one of a lottery winner thanking the one who was giving her the prize.

I smiled when I saw her smelling the shirt that I had given her and then the pants.

Now, Alice would have to be by Bella's side when she got dressed to force her to wear something more from this closet that it wasn't jeans and shirts. Something I was sure wouldn't happen, not very often at least.

Finding clothes for me wasn't such big of a challenge to me as it was to Bella; firstly, I didn't care what I found as much as Bella did and Alice knew perfectly well what each member of the family liked and didn't like, her tastes differed a lot from ours, only Jasper wouldn't complain when he didn't like something.

We were both soon dressed up. I neared her and took her hand to leave. We went out through the garden that looked into our room and we jumped over the little stones wall that surrounded it. It was a strange sensation to have Bella hand in hand while we ran and jumped over stones walls than she before jumped with me holding her on my back. It seemed, that that little habit or rather need, had finished.

I didn't find it weird when I felt Bella stopping a little while she released my hand. It was she who said the parting lines now.

"On your mark, ready…" and she sprinted off.

I gave her a second of advantage, but even if I had given her more, I still would've gotten there before her.

From a couple of miles to the house, I could listen to the thoughts of each member of our family. Renesmee was awake like I had thought.

Everyone, Rose and Emmett were with her while she played with a dinner service that Esme had given her to entertain. The spoon she had on her hand, was smashed and almost destroyed by the strength Nessie was exerting on it. While everyone else, Carlisle and Esme, Alice and Jasper were sitting on the couch in front of them while they also watched Renesmee.

Just in that moment, Renesmee stretched her hand towards Rosalie, and I saw what she wanted.

Bella.

"_She will be here soon, Nessie,"_ Rosalie assured her, having heard our footsteps getting closer. We were less than half a mile from them.

"_What does she want?"_ Emmett asked. _"Bella?" don't get too excited…_

Emmett just thought, more for me than for himself, because he had also heard us.

"_Yes, of course she wants Bella,"_ Rosalie told him with a smile while she kept staring Nessie, and waiting for us to arrive.

Everybody was staring at Nessie like she were something from another world, like she were the only thing that could hold their attentions at any moment – that it was, certainly, the case. Even I, that still didn't have at the reach of my sight our daughter, was focused on her face through six different points of view. It was almost as fascinating as it had been seeing Bella's.

We soon entered the house's lawn, and Bella was running behind me.

Rosalie sighed with relief, _Oh, it's so good you're here already…_ Rosalie was thinking with Renesmee in her mind.

Once we were at everyone's sight through the glass wall, Nessie saw the one she had been waiting for so much to come.

Without a second's hesitation, Nessie threw away the spoon against the floor, leaving a mark over it. No one from the family, much less Esme took into account the mark, as if nothing had happened or as if it were something that it was already there. She then stretched her hand towards Bella. In her mind there wasn't anything else but her on her mother's arms again. I smiled hugely while everyone else laughed when they saw Renesmee's impatience, and when Bella crossed the room in a second and had Renesmee in her arms immediately. Both had been so anxious to be together again.

The two of them smiled widely to each other, and though I couldn't read Bella's thoughts, I knew what was in them at this moment. Probably, the same happiness and relief Renesmee felt for being with Bella.

Esme looked at me, and then she was happier than a moment ago when she saw my face, and remembering Alice's words last night.

_I'm so glad you'd liked the house, son. Bella, especially, sure._

"Thank you," I mouthed.

_You have absolutely nothing to thank for. I couldn't allow you to be too far away from us._

I smiled at Esme, and then the two of us returned our attention to Bella and Renesmee.

I didn't ask, but I had noticed that none of the wolves had been near the house. I hadn't listened to the sound of their steps against the ground or their thoughts. Nor Jacob, or Seth or Leah.

Mmm.

It was almost like an attack, Carlisle thought about Renesmee's measurements then, it was almost like seeing that her growth was slowing, but it was incomplete because it didn't slow enough to believe that at any moment it would stop.

_I'm hungry, mommy._ Renesmee thought while she showed the image of Bella. I heard her shuddering.

Emmett spoke to me then, to start with his routine of jokes. _I thought we wouldn't see you today…_

I ignored him and left to the kitchen for bringing her breakfast.

"How long has she been up?" I listened to Bella ask while I walked through the kitchen's door.

I took, in the meantime, Renesmee's cup to fill it with the blood that was her favorite meal. I wondered quickly if I should get in some of baby formula and then decided not. Nessie didn't like it, so I wouldn't force her to eat something so disgusting.

I shuddered, considering the horrible taste of human food.

"Just a few minutes," Rosalie was the one who answered. "We would have called you soon. She's been asking for you – " she stopped for an instant, and in her mind passed through several images of Renesmee, demanding to bring Bella with her. "demanding might be a better description. Esme sacrificed her second-best silver service to keep the little monster entertained."

I heard Rosalie stopping, her eyes left Bella and went to Nessie while she smiled at her. _The most beautiful little monster from this planet, yes._

She then continued. "We didn't want to… er, bother you." Rosalie took her eyes off Bella, suddenly embarrassed for saying that out loud, she bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing, while she remembered all the jokes Emmett had said during the entire night.

Emmett, on the contrary, started laughing in _silence_. _It's a good thing we didn't that house bigger, it's surely crumpled into dust. Ha ha ha._

"We'll get your room set up right away," I listened to Bella say. The words were repeating on Nessie's mind while she heard her. I could see in her mind the excitement growing to what Bella had told her, she was excited to be with us and not away from us. "You'll like the cottage. It's magic."

_Ah, my dearest Bella. I'm so glad you liked it._ Esme thought.

"Thank you, Esme. So much. It's absolutely perfect." Bella told her when she raised her look towards Esme.

_You don't have anything to…_ Esme was about to answer what I saw seeing in her mind, when both things were interrupted by the scandalous laugh of… Emmett, of course.

"So it's still standing?" Emmett said between chortles. I didn't have any idea how he got talking when he had one of those laughter fits, but his jokes wouldn't be stopped not even for himself.

_Grow up, Emmett._ Alice and Jasper thought something similar.

"I would've thought you two had knocked it to rubble by now." Emmett continued. "What were you doing last night? Discussing the national debt?"

I was glad in that moment that I were in the kitchen and I didn't have him at my hand's reach. His head would've been in them.

Alice laughed internally when she was what would have happened.

_I would've loved to see that, Edward._

Jasper felt the change in Alice and turned to see her curiously. Alice just shook her head.

I heard Bella gritting her teeth, trying to not answer back surely.

_Her control's still intact…_ Jasper was musing over while he felt her emotions.

"Where're the wolves today?" Bella asked, at the same time that I finished getting ready Nessie's cup with her breakfast.

From Rosalie I saw her turning to see toward the glass wall as if she waited to see any of them outside.

_Who cares about those stinky dogs?_ Rose thought, while she answered. "Jacob took off this morning pretty early," her forehead wrinkled, seeing in her mind the image of Jacob before leaving, with Seth behind him. "Seth followed him."

I left the kitchen, then, looking in Rosalie images of this morning.

There was something strange on Jacob's expression while he was leaving. His eyes had been in Renesmee while she had been still sleeping when he stood up without warning. He seemed upset over something, but I couldn't be sure what I was about.

I walked in the room and went to Bella and Renesmee with her breakfast, while I asked out lout my question to Rosalie. "What was he so upset about?"

Bella stopped breathing when I walked in, I guessed because of the blood that Renesmee would have for breakfast, and then she gave her to Rosalie.

When she had Nessie in her arms, Rosalie turned to me.

_Like I care._ She answered to me in her mind, and then she answered out loud for Bella to hear. "I don't know – or care. He was watching Nessie sleep, his mouth hanging open like the moron he is, and then he just jumped to his feet without any kind of trigger—that I noticed, anyway—and stormed out. I was glad to be rid of him. The more time he spends here, the less chance there is that we'll ever get the smell out."

_It'll take us a time, sure. I wish that when we come back I won't have to smell his stinky stench…_ I could see what had they been talking about and had caused some of Jacob's upset.

Dartmouth.

"Rose," I heard Esme chiding very lightly Rose.

Rosalie flipped her hair aside, while she kept talking. "I suppose it doesn't matter. We won't be here that much longer."

Emmett got serious, strangely. "I still say we should go straight to New Hampshire and get things set up."

_Don't you think, Edward?_ He told me in a tone that was still mocking at my night with Bella.

I rolled my eyes before he continued speaking. "Bella's already registered at Dartmouth. Doesn't look like it will take her all that long to be able to handle school," he then turned to see Bella, with the same mocking tone I had heard in his mind, and a wide smile. "I'm sure you'll ace your classes… apparently there's nothing interesting for you to do at night besides study."

While I listened from a side to Rosalie laughed, on the other side I was listening to what Emmett had just said repeated in mind, trying to find the answer that had evaded me a moment ago about Jacob.

Not I understood, Dartmouth… Renesmee away… Jacob… leaving without him.

Just when I understood what had happened for Jacob to be so upset and had left the house so hurriedly, I heard his thoughts.

_Five minutes? Ten? How long would it take Charlie to arrive? I hope they won't get mad…_

Jacob was coming in Seth's and Leah's companion, but I barely noticed t them.

Fury filled my mind and for a second there wasn't anything else than the murdering desire of having his head in my hands, and…

I controlled myself a bit to be able to explain, but I couldn't help it. A growl escaped out of my mouth, attracting all the attention to me.

Everyone was confused, Jasper felt it at the same he also felt that way.

_Daddy?_ I heard Renesmee on the very back of my mind. I could barely hear them.

Alice was suddenly on her feet, distracting me just a bit. "What is he doing? What is that doing that had erased my schedule for the entire day? I can't see anything! No!" Alice said, in an almost tortuous way when she saw the clothes Bella was wearing. "Look at you! You need me to show you how to use your closet."

Everyone turned to see me, they didn't understand what Alice meant.

Carlisle got worried, remembering the last time something like this had happened. _Son? Please, tell us what is going on._

I felt my hands forming fists, as if I already had Jacob in front of me.

How dare he doing that? Without even consulting it with us? it wasn't none of his business what my family or I did, muss less did he have the right of deciding what to do or what to not do with our lives. Or going to speak with Charlie, and…

I growled. "He talked to Charlie. He thinks Charlie is following after him. Coming here. Today."

"Damn it," Alice said before disappearing through the back door.

_If it weren't because I'm prepared, I helped you, Edward, to rid his big head off…_ she told me while got away.

I didn't pay much attention to her, I could listen to Jacob getting closer, and my fury growing.

_Calm down, Edward._ Jasper ordered me while he sent a wave of calm towards me. It didn't work.

I didn't understand that he had been thinking as to believe that what he'd decided to do was something that would make us glad or that we'd thank him for. If Bella…

I didn't even want to think on that option, but it was.

"He told Charlie?" Bella told me, gasping. She'd thought the worst, I could see. "But – doesn't he understand? How could he do that?"

I didn't correct her, because Jacob was about to walk in, and he was already nervous having heard already the last thing.

"No!" I heard Bella gasping, again.

_I hope they won't get mad… ah, I don't think so. I did something good._

Something good?

He didn't have any idea of how good it was. I felt a impulse almost uncontrollable of being on this occasion me who launched to his throat.

"Jacob's on his way in now." I said through my teeth.

Just at that moment, he walked in through the door, all drenched because of the rain that was in the town, having run toward here.

Everybody became silent while we saw him walking in as if nothing were happening.

"Hey, guys," his excitement was irritating. He was yet smiling. Of course, he thought that with this we wouldn't take Renesmee away from him.

I was so infuriated that I could take her away from him right this moment.

Seth and Leah walked after him, they were more conscious of our emotions than Jacob. They could notice that none of us was happy to see Jacob. And they, too, know the reason.

_Edward, we tried to stop him, but you know him…_ Seth tried to calm me.

"Rose," I heard Bella said, while I saw my sister turning towards her and see that Bella had her arms outstretched toward her.

_Right, Nessie._ Rosalie thought while she handed her Renesmee.

_Oh, she's awake now. I hope she's fine, well, at least she's already had breakfast._ He thought while he saw Renesmee's cup in Rosalie's hand and smelled the blood.

"Charlie'll be here soon," Jacob said, finally breaking the silence. After all, it was he who had to give a few explanations. "Just a heads-up. I assume Alice is getting you sunglasses or something?" he asked while he looked Alice over.

_Yes, stupid dog…_ Alice answered from upstairs.

Before I could say anything, Bella was the one who spoke. "You assume way too much," she said through her teeth, I could see that she was also upset. ".?"

_Oh, what are they overreacting? I didn't do anything they didn't plan on doing, well, sort of…_

The smile on his face fell a bit when he heard Bella's tone, which confused him. "Blondie and Emmett woke me up this morning going on and on about you all moving cross-country. Like I could let you leave. Charlie was the biggest issue there, right? Well, problem solved."

Again, the impulse of beating him attacked me, but Bella spoke before I could react or something else about it. "Do you even realize what you've done? The danger you've put him in?"

_What? What danger?_ Jacob seemed to not understand what Bella meant.

He snorted before answering. "I didn't put him in danger. Except from you. But you've got some kind of supernatural self-control, right? Not as good as mind reading, if you ask me. Much less exciting."

_And I mean it, bloodsucker._ Though his comment didn't have any animosity, it provoked me to… I had to control myself now, because I would end up like an uncontrolled newborn.

But the fact that he were so sure that the gift Bella had was a _super personal control_ was beyond acceptable, that he'd gotten out his own conclusions about a simple theory that could turn out to be true or not, it was more than I could accept from that dog.

Somehow I would make him understand, and if something happened, he'd pay for it.

I crossed the room in a blink towards Jacob and his stupid good mood were. The expression in my face alarming not just him but everyone else and the members of my family.

Renesmee especially

At this moment, it was she the only one who stopped me, but if it weren't for her, I wasn't sure of what could have happened at this moment.

_Hey, hey, what is it? What did I do now?_ He was thinking while he paced back. _Why are you so mad, Edward?_

His ignorance bothered almost as much as what he'd done.

But again, Bella's life and everything that had something to do with her wasn't of his business anymore.

"That's just a theory, mongrel. You think we should test it out on Charlie?" I asked him, my words seemed more like a growl than anything else. Did you consider the physical pain you're putting Bella through, even if she can resist? Or the emotional pain if she doesn't? I suppose what happens to Bella no longer concerns _you_!"

His thoughts were a mixture of confusion for a second.

I heard in the back of my mind how Renesmee repeated what had just happened to Bella.

_Why is daddy yelling at Jacob?_ Bella didn't say anything about it, she hadn't asked her that, it could only be understood in the tone of her thoughts.

Jacob's expression changed, too. He was finally understanding what I meant.

_But… I… I mean… ahmm…_ "Bella will be in pain?"

"Like you've shoved a white-hot branding iron down her throat!"

I listened to Bella shuddering when she heard my words. She was probably remembering the pain in her throat when smelling human blood.

Jasper felt it too.

_Son, be calm. Surely Jacob didn't do it with a mean intention._ Carlisle and Esme were trying to calm me down a bit.

I didn't care with which intention he'd done it!

"I didn't know that," Jacob whispered. _Really, I didn't. Somebody must…_

"Then perhaps you should have asked first," I growled, I didn't find the enough control over me to control my words. Not even with Jasper using his gift.

"You would have stopped me," Jacob had the guts to say. What else did he expect me to do?

"You should have been stopped-"

Bella spoke again, interrupting me. "This isn't about me. This is about Charlie, Jacob. How could you put him in danger this way? Do you realize it's death or vampire life for him now, too?" her voice trembled, and again I wanted to punch Jacob.

_Oh, that's it. But I didn't tell him anything of vampires; you know, Edward._

"Relax, Bella. I didn't tell him anything you were planning to tell him."

_Ah, right. So, what did he say? We're from Mars?_ Rosalie mocked him in her mind.

"But he's coming here!" Bella told him, her voice still a little bit scared with the possibility of Charlie knowing our secret.

The Volturi should be in her worries.

"Yeah, that's the idea. Wasn't the whole 'let him make the wrong assumptions' thing your plan? I think I provided a very nice red herring, if I do say so myself."

_It was great, you should've seen his face. Well, you've seen it already for sure, right, Edward?_

I didn't find anything funny in the situation, when Bella heard what he had done, I was sure she wouldn't like it at all.

Right now, I could see how she was stretching her fingers away from Renesmee and then returned them, as if Renesmee were the only thing that could keep her tranquil and away from snap decisions. "Say it straight, Jacob. I don't have the patience for this."

_Immortality didn't give her the patience I would've thought._

""I didn't tell him anything about you, Bella. Not really. I told him about me. Well, show is probably a better verb."

My voice came out like a hiss. I barely got the words out of my mouth. "He phased in front of Charlie."

"You what?" Bella barely whispered.

_I knew they wouldn't like this, Bella especially._ Seth thought.

Everyone else, they were almost too scared with the idea of Charlie seeing a werewolf in front of his eyes, when he didn't even believe in myths of legends.

_I can't believe the dog had had the guts of doing that. Just for Nessie._ Emmett was about to find the amusement in this situation if he hadn't already. It wouldn't be strange that he found it funny, there was nothing dramatic to him.

"He's brave. Brave as you are. He didn't pass out or throw up or anything. I gotta say, I was impressed. You should've seen his face when I started taking my clothes off, though. Priceless." He chuckled, remembering Charlie's expression all the time.

It was like Emmett, he seemed to find the funny part in a serious and dangerous situation like this one.

What was wrong with them?

"You absolutely moron! You could have given him a heart attack!" Bella yelled at him, his face was horrified.

_No, no, of course not. None of heart attacks, nor nothing alike._

"Charlie's fine. He's tough. If you'd give this just a minute, you'll see that I made you a favor here."

"You have half of that, Jacob," Bella told him, and in her voice there wasn't any inflection or even a bit of comprehension. "You have thirty seconds to tell me every single word before I give Renesmee to Rosalie and rip your miserable head off. Seth won't be able to stop me this time."

I heard Seth shuddering lightly to Bella's warning.

"Jeez, Bells. You didn't use to be so melodramatic. Is that a vampire thing?"

The jokes were getting to a point where they were more than annoying. He didn't find the seriousness to this situation yet.

"Twenty-six seconds."

_What's the riot? She can't simply get ready to see Charlie instead of wasting time…_ Jacob was thinking while he rolled his eyes and then went to sit in a chair.

Seth and Leah moved behind him. More tense with every second that passed and worried about Jacob, especially. They remembered very well that had happened when Bella hadn't liked at all what Jacob had done, first his imprinting with Renesmee and her nickname.

_She will not break my brother's bones this time. Stupid bloodsucker._ Leah.

"So I knocked on Charlie's door this morning and asked him to come for a walk with me. He was confused, but when I told him it was about you and that you were back in town, he followed me out to the woods. I told him you weren't sick anymore, and that things were a little weird, but good. He was about to take off to see you, but I told him I had to show him something first. And then I phased." Jacob said and then he shrugged.

It seemed that he didn't find anything wrong to what he'd done, and perhaps I wouldn't be so upset, if not for the fact that none of us was completely sure that Bella could handle the temptation so close to her. It had been very different with those strangers in the forest.

"I want every word, you monster." Bella said, and I could see the effort she was making on speaking.

Everybody was intent of what Jacob said, but it called my attention the way in which Renesmee was listening to what we were talking about.

"Well, you said I had only thirty seconds-" _or I better tell her everything…_ Jacob thought when he saw Bella's expression. "okay, okay. Lemme see… I phased back and got dressed, and then after he started breathing again, I said something like, 'Charlie, you don't live in the world you thought you lived in. The good news is, nothing has changed—except that now you know. Life'll go on the same way it always has. You can go right back to pretending that you don't believe any of this.'"

I could listen to the disapproving coming more strongly from Rosalie, of course. Everything Jacob did or stopped doing, was a stupid thing for her.

"It took him a minute to get his head together, and then he wanted to know what was really going on with you, with the whole rare-disease thing. I told him that you had been sick, but you were fine now—it was just that you'd had to change a little bit in the process of getting better. He wanted to know what I meant by 'change,' and I told him that you looked a lot more like Esme now than you looked like Renée."

I hissed without thinking of what I was doing. He'd crossed the line. I didn't see which was the favor he'd done to Bella by doing this. More like Esme than like Renée.

_He's no idea, really, Edward. Everything's fine._ Jacob assured me before continued speaking.

"After a few minutes, he asked, real quietly, if you turned into an animal, too. And I said, 'She wishes she was that cool!'" he said chuckling.

_Cool or gross?_ Rosalie thought, and she let clear that she didn't agree with Jacob's words.

"I started to tell him more about werewolves, but I didn't even get the whole word out—Charlie cut me off and said he'd 'rather not know the specifics.' Then he asked if you'd known what you were getting yourself into when you married Edward, and I said, 'Sure, she's known all about this for years, since she first came to Forks.' He didn't like that very much. I let him rant till he got it out of his system. After he got calmed down, he just wanted two things. He wanted to see you, and I said it would be better if he gave me a head start to explain."

I listened to Bella sighing deeply before speaking. "What was the other thing he wanted?"

_Oh, yeah right. You're gonna love this. I told you everything was okay._

Jacob smiled before answering. "You'll like this. His main request is that he be told as little as possible about all of this. If it's not absolutely essential for him to know something, then keep it to yourself. Need to know, only."

It caught my eye Jasper in that moment, because Bella's emotions were changing and almost everyone's in the room. They were relieved to hear that.

"I can handle that," Bella said.

My forehead frowned, I hated to have to be grateful with Jacob, but if this worked, perhaps it wouldn't be necessary to _hate him_ anymore.

"Other than that, he'd just like to pretend things are normal," Jacob smiled again, his thoughts to a new direction.

_She will thank me, and I will get to stay with Nessie here and not cross-country._

"What did you tell him about Renesmee?"

"Oh yeah. So I told him you and Edward had inherited a new little mouth to feed." Jacob turned to see me, and kept talking. "She's your orphaned ward. Like Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson." _Something like that, you know._ Jacob thought while snorted. "I didn't think you'd mind me lying. That's all part of the game, right?"

Jacob waited for me to respond, but I couldn't. What did he expect me to say? Ah, of course, no problem; better, I'm glad you did so for us?

"Charlie was way past being shocked at this point, but he did ask if you were adopting her. 'Like a daughter? Like I'm sort of a grandfather?' were his exact words. I told him yes. 'Congrats, Gramps,' and all of that. He even smiled a little."

_I don't think it's a good for Charlie to meet Renesmee…_ Carlisle was thinking for himself, and at the same time he started looking for some diseases in his mind like an excuse for her fast growth.

"But she's changing so fast," Bella whispered. But for that, Jacob also had an answer.

"I told him that she was more special that all of us put together." His voice was gentle now, speaking of Renesmee, of course. Suddenly, everything he wanted was to have Renesmee in his arms. After all, all of this he'd done for us to not get her away from him.

He walked towards Bella, and Seth and Leah walked behind him immediately, anxious. Jacob ordered them to stay in their places.

_Jacob…_ Renesmee thought, while she stretched her hands out for him to take her in his arms, but Bella didn't allow it, tightening her hold on Renesmee. "I told him, 'Trust me, you don't want to know about this. But if you can ignore all the strange parts, you're going to be amazed. She's the most wonderful person in the whole world.' And then I told him that if he could deal with that, you all would stick around for a while and he would have a chance to get to know her. But that if it was too much for him, you would leave. He said as long as no one forced too much information on him, he'd deal."

Jacob half-smiled, while he waited for Bella, or someone at least, to say something.

"I'm not going to say thank you. You're still putting Charlie at a huge risk." Bella told him.

_I know now, but I didn't._ "I am sorry about it hurting you. I didn't know it was like that. Bella, things are different with us now, but you'll always be my best friend, and I'll always love you. But I'll love you the right way now. There's finally a balance. We both have people we can't live without."

Jacob smiled again, "Still friends?"

Both smiled at each other, only that Bella's smile was smaller as if she couldn't help it.

_I hope we're fine, please, let us be._ He raised his hand towards Bella, offering to make paces or being fine as he was thinking they were. Bella took it after sighing deeply and changing Renesmee to her other arm. "If I don't kill Charlie tonight, I'll consider forgiving you for this."

"When you don't kill Charlie tonight, you'll owe me huge." His mental tone was mocking.

_Everything's ready. I can't see what'll happen, anyway. Agh._ I listened to Alice complaining at that moment.

_Now I wish… Nessie… but, would Bella want?_ "Can I?" he told her while he held his arms out to Renesmee.

"I'm actually holding her so that my hands aren't free to kill you, Jacob. Maybe later."

_Fine, later._ Jacob sighed.

Alice sprinted downstairs then, her mind could tell too much, focused on the future, and upset because she couldn't look much of the future because the wolves were involved. She brought with her a box with contact lens for Bella in her hands.

_If they move… there'll be trouble._ Knowing that I could listen to her, she said. _I swear, Edward, though I can't see it coming true._

"You, you and you," she told to Jacob, Seth and Leah. "If you must stay, get over in the corner and commit to being there for a while. I need to see. Bella, you'd better give him the baby, too. You'll need your arms free, anyway."

Jacob grinned hugely, and at the same time I heard Jasper felt how Bella was freaking out.

"Take her," she said to Jacob, while she put Renesmee in his arms.

Jacob and Renesmee and Seth went to sit on the corner as Alice had ordered them to. While they walked there, Leah stayed stood where she was, waiting for Jacob to turn and gave her his permission to leave, she did not want to be for not even a second more inside of the house.

She shook her head, and said. "Am I allowed to leave?"

"Of course," Jacob told her.

"Stay east so you don't cross Charlie's path." Alice asked her, which Leah would fulfill but ignored Alice.

As soon as she left, I hurried to Bella's side, she was terrified, I could still feel it from Jasper.

I caressed her face, trying to give her assurance. "You can do this. I know you can. I'll help you; we all will."

_Of course we will._ A chorus of thoughts agreed with my words.

Bella turned to see me, and all the fear that Jasper felt I could see it in her eyes. But I had been thinking about it, and I was sure that Bella would make it. She didn't have anything to be afraid of, if I wouldn't have let her kill those strangers, much less her father. She should know.

"If I didn't believe you could handle it, we'd disappear today. This very minute. But you can. And you'll be happier if you can have Charlie in your life."

Bella tried to breathe normally, when Alice came over us with the box with the contact lens in her hands. She showed them to her, and explained what they were. "These will irritate your eyes—they won't hurt, but they'll cloud your vision. It's annoying. They also won't match your old color, but it's still better than bright red, right?"

"When did-" Bella asked when she caught the box in her hands.

"Before you left on the honeymoon. I was prepared for several possible futures."

I turned to see Jasper while Bella put the lens on, asking him with my eyes how Bella and her control felt.

He nodded and told me. _She seemed to be controlled. For what I've seen, I don't think it's going to be very difficult, Edward. Don't worry, as you said, we'll help her._

I nodded, and heard Bella commenting about the contacts. "I see what you mean," she said and put on the other lens.

"How do I look?"

I smiled at her when I saw her brown eyes again. They weren't like chocolate one of hers, but still. "Gorgeous. Of course-"

_We don't have time for that, Edward._ Alice interrupted me. "Yes, yes, she always looks gorgeous. It's better than red, but that's the highest commendation I can give. Muddy brown. Your brown was much prettier. Keep in mind that those won't last forever—the venom in your eyes will dissolve them in a few hours. So if Charlie stays longer than that, you'll have to excuse yourself to replace them. Which is a good idea anyway, because humans need bathroom breaks." Alice shook her head, that was almost stupid for her when she didn't have herself memories of being human and what that implied. "Esme, give her a few pointers on acting human while I stock the powder room with contacts."

"How long do I have?" Bella asked.

"Charlie will be here in five minutes. Keep it simple."

Esme nodded and walked to Bella, she took her hand before beginning. I could see that she wasn't the only one that already had some useful advices for Bella. "The main things is not to sit too still or move too fast." Bella nodded.

"Sit if he does. Humans don't like to just stand there." Emmett told her this time, and Bella nodded again.

I could listen to Alice complaining when she heard the next one in speaking was Jasper. _I said Esme._

"Let your eyes wander every thirty seconds or so. Humans don't stare at one thing for too long."

"Cross your legs for about five minutes," Rosalie said. "then switch to crossing your ankles for the next five."

"And blink at least three times a minute." Emmett said frowning, then he returned his attention to the TV where he got a football game.

_Your father-in-law likes it…_

I rolled my eyes while I listened to Jasper this time. "Move your hands, too. Brush your hair back or pretend to scratch something."

Alice came back at that moment, and she complained out loud finally. "I said Esme. You'll overwhelm her."

"No, I think I got it all. Sit, look around, blink, fidget."

"Right," Esme told her and hugged her to encourage her.

Jasper remembered how we sometimes had to hold our breathes when we were in company of humans, and that being a little bit harder for Bella, he should remind her. "You'll be holding your breath as much as possible, but you need to move your shoulders to make it look like you're breathing."

Bella breathed and sighed.

I could see that she was still nervous, I moved to her side, and hugged her. "You can do this." I whispered into her ear.

"Two minutes," Alice warned us. "Maybe you should start out already on the couch. You've been sick, after all. That way he won't have to see you move right at first."

Good idea. Alice came to Bella and pulled her by her side so she would sit on the couch. She then rolled her eyes when she saw Bella _trying_ to walk clumsily. _She has to do it better…_

"Jacob, I need Renesmee."

Jacob just frowned and didn't move. _But…_

"Bella, that doesn't help me see." Alice told her while she shook her head.

"But I need her. She keeps me calm."

_Of course. But it's not fair…_ "Fine," Alice growled, annoyed for having to try harder than necessary. "Hold her as still as you can and I'll try to see around her."

Jacob crossed his look with mine while Alice was speaking, and he convinced himself of giving Renesmee to Bella without complaining. He sighed and gave Renesmee to Bella before getting back to his corner with Seth.

I went to sit by Bella's and Renesmee's side. There were things I had to tell Renesmee, if Charlie saw something _more_ out of normal, he would get even more nervous. Like images put into his mind by Renesmee's touch, or that she bit him…

I turned toward Renesmee when I was sat, and I looked her into the eyes. I immediately had her attention. "Renesmee, someone special is coming to see you and your mother. But he's not like us, or even Jacob. We have to be very careful with him. You shouldn't tell him things the way you tell us."

Renesmee touched my face to be sure of what I meant, even though I had already seen it a second before her hand touched my cheek. She was repeating images of her with her hand on everyone's faces.

_That way?_ Renesmee asked me. "Exactly. And he's going to make you thirsty. But you mustn't bite him. He won't heal like Jacob."

"Can she understand you?" Bella asked me.

"She understands. You'll be careful, won't you? You'll help us?"

Renesmee had understood perfectly fine what I had just asked her to, and she showed me so again, and an image of her biting Jacob. _Can I bite him?_

"No, I don't care if you bite Jacob. That's fine." I told her.

Jacob chuckled, trying to not catch our attention toward him, and that reminded me of something. I turned to see him, and my stare was cold. What did he expect? I wondered when I read his mind and what he saw. "Maybe you should leave, Jacob."

"I told Charlie I'd be here. He needs the moral support." Jacob told me, while he showed me in his mind the moment in which he had assured Charlie that, as if he expected me to doubt his words.

"Moral support," I mocked of the words he had chosen. They weren't the most _right_ ones. "As far as Charlie knows, you're the most repulsive monster of us all."

_Without a doubt,_ Rosalie agreed with me, while Carlisle asked me to calm me down on Jacob.

"Repulsive?" Jacob repeated and started laughing. If it hadn't been because I heard the cloudy thoughts of Charlie getting closer, I would've said something else…

_Easy, Edward. You have to be calm for supporting Bella._ Jasper told me.

Then we all listened to the sound of the tires of Charlie's cruiser over the earth path towards our house. Bella immediately got tense, but before Jasper could something about it, she was calmed somehow. And thought none of us could know exactly how she had done it, we both knew it was Renesmee who had helped her, that was why Bella had insisted on having Renesmee with her, to keep herself calmed.

"Well done, Bella." Jasper told her. _Maybe this isn't such a bad idea,_ he thought.

I tightened my embrace on her arms, and Bella turned to see me, I still could see some anxiety in her eyes, but nothing she couldn't handle. "You're sure?" she asked me.

"Positive. You can do anything." I smiled at her, and then I leaned down to her to kiss her.

And like now I didn't have to watch myself for not hurting her when kissing her, I kissed her with a little more enthusiasm than necessary at that moment, Bella reacted the same way. In the very back of my mind I heard someone calling my name, but I was much too distracted.

"Er, Edward, you might not want to distract her like that right now. She needs to be able to focus."

I pulled away from her quickly, Jasper was right. "Oops."

Bella laughed, surely because of the line I had chosen. But again, I didn't have any way of knowing. "Later," she told me. And Jasper felt immediately Bella's distraction again.

"Focus, Bella." Jasper reminded her.

_You may not have knocked down the house, but she really…_ I tried to no listen to Emmett. His comment was out of place and I didn't want to be anxious, too.

"Right."

"Bella," Jasper _scolded_ Bella again, and I smiled.

"Sorry, Jasper," Bella said while Emmett laughed this time.

The sound of the tires getting closer every time towards the house became louder, like his thoughts. I couldn't know exactly what he was thinking.

After a few second the car stopped in front of the house, and the most I could hear was a mixture of worry and hesitation. I guessed that his worry was because of what Jacob had said about Bella; and his hesitation, well, taking into account that he waited a few seconds before getting out of the car, I guessed it was because he didn't have any idea of what he was doing or what he thought he was going to see. It was almost as frustrating as it had been with Bella, all the guesses, I couldn't be sure; though it was easier to make guessed about Charlie than about Bella. At the end he took courage enough and got down from the car, then he walked toward the front door, we heard him knocking at it and Carlisle went ahead.

I listened to Bella taking a deep breath, getting ready for not breathing, maybe, once Charlie was inside.

Carlisle opened the door then, and he turned his expression to shame. Everything I could see in Charlie's mind was, rage mixed with phones. I thought he was upset over the many times he had called and had been lied. "Hello, Charlie." Carlisle greeted him.

Having read what Charlie was thinking, it didn't surprise me his attitude. "Carlisle. Where's Bella?"

"Right here, dad," Bella said and I heard her taking another breath quickly.

Confusion swept over Charlie's mind, the voice he was listening to wasn't anything alike to Bella's when she was human. Charlie walked into the room from where he'd listened to Bella. His eyes widened when he saw Bella's new face. His emotions were much clearer in his face than in his mind, and I was sure that everyone had understood every one of his emotions, Jasper felt every and each one of them, and it was the most normal. I almost felt ashamed, and really like a criminal for having done this to Bella, for having taken away her humanity, and now Charlie was another witness of my crime.

"Is that you, Bella?" Charlie asked.

"Yep," I felt Bella cringing when she spoke. "Hi, dad."

Charlie took a deep breath, and Jacob decided to speak, to give him the _moral_ support he'd promised to him when he saw the way he was. "Hey, Charlie. How're things?"

He turned to see Jacob a bit upset and then he shuddered remembering the moment in which Jacob had phased from human to wolf. It was easier to see the images in his mind than the words, though they were almost as cloudy as his thoughts. In that moment, Charlie walked toward Bella and us on the couch, his eyes were intent on his daughter. He stopped a few meters from us and his look went to me, just like before, the emotion was more obvious in his face than it was in his mind. But Jasper could feel what Charlie was feeling, and it was mixture of accusation and almost hatred toward me.

"Bella?"

"It's really me," she answered in a low voice. "I'm sorry, dad," Bella told him when she saw Charlie's reaction to her words.

"Are you okay?" he seemed to not believe what Jacob had told him, that she was now healthy.

"Really and truly great," Bella assured him. "Healthy as a horse."

"Jake told me this was… necessary. That you were dying."

_I was doubting Charlie would've believed us that before, but now it's obvious, Edward._ Jasper commented while he read his emotions.

Bella breathed, and Jasper asked me to watch over Bella. He felt her thirsty…

I squeezed my arms around her, a worry and a reminded for her that were watching over her, to not be afraid. Jacob turned to see Bella, and his thoughts begged him to really forgive him when he saw our expressions.

"Jacob was telling you the truth," Bella told him.

"That makes one of you," Charlie said, mad.

I had been so concentrated on Charlie that I hadn't put much attention on Renesmee until I felt her going rigid and the smell of Charlie and his blood passed through her mind though I couldn't see anything that told me that Renesmee would do something she shouldn't as I had asked her to. Bella turned to see, anxious and Charlie followed her stare.

"Oh," Charlie said, all his anger banishing from his system and replaced by surprise. "This is her. The orphan Jacob said you're adopting."

"My niece," it was better to say that she was from my family, Renesmee had too much resemblance to me and to Bella, and it would be easier to convince Charlie that we wanted to keep her and not letting anyone else to take care of her. The public history was that, of course.

"I thought you'd lost your family," Charlie told me, and I could see how the accusation was coming back to his system. The lies were getting the best of him. But he needed to know mow the public story than the real one.

"I lost my parents," the story was taking shape alone. "My older brother was adopted, like me. I never saw him after that. But the courts located me when he and his wife died in a car accident, leaving their only child without any other family."

When she heard that, Renesmee felt curiosity toward the man that she had in front of her and she'd heard her mom calling dad, she immediately knew he was her grandfather. She turned her look slightly towards Charlie, never leaving completely of hiding her head out from Bella's hair, and she smelled again Charlie's blood in the air. Just like Bella, she felt thirsty…

"She's… she's, well, she's a beauty," Charlie babbled.

"Yes," How to deny it? We all agreed with Charlie.

"Kind of a big responsibility, though. You two are just getting started."

"What else could we do?" I caressed Renesmee's cheek and then her lips. _No biting, I know daddy._ Renesmee thought. "Would you have refused her?"

"Hmph. Well." Charlie didn't say more, and then he shook his head lightly while the image of Jacob passed through his mind, and… "Jake says you call her Nessie?"

I knew before the words came out Charlie's mouth, the reaction Bella would have. "No, we don't. Her name is Renesmee." She said at the end trying to make her tone a little bit gentler.

"How do you feel about this? Maybe Carlisle and Esme could-"

"She's mine. I want her." Bella interrupted him.

"You gonna make a grandpa so young?" Charlie asked while he frowned.

I smiled at Charlie and to what I heard Carlisle thinking. _I am too a grandpa,_ he thought while he looked at Esme who was also a grandma. "Carlisle is a grandfather, too."

Charlie turned to see Carlisle standing on the front door, and snorted. "I guess that does sort of make me feel better." He said while laughed. He then turned his eyes to Renesmee. "She sure is something to look at."

Renesmee turned then, her face and her eyes just right in front of Charlie by smelling his scent.

Charlie gasped when he saw her eyes. Everything he looked, they were his own eyes and then Bella's. His breathing became harder while he counted the _months_ that were supposed to have been for Renesmee to be Bella's and my daughter.

_I don't think he'll want to listen to what happened to Bella during her pregnancy…_ Jacob thought while he rose to go to Charlie, then he patted his should and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Need to know, Charlie. It's okay. I promise."

Charlie tried to calm down, and swallowed and nodded before getting to me. Jasper felt the rage growing inside of him. His eyes reflected the same thing than his fists. "I don't want to know everything, but I'm done with the lies!"

"I'm sorry," I apologized honestly to him. He would never know how truly I regretted all of this. The happiness I felt was genuine, but it also hurt me that Bella suffered for the moment and his father, too. "But you need to know the public story more than you need to know the truth. If you're going to be part of this secret, the public story is the one that counts. It's to protect Bella and Renesmee as well as the rest of us. Can you go along with the lies for them?"

Charlie didn't answer me and turned to see Bella, but I could see he would. "You might've given me some warning, kid."

"Would it really have made this any easier?"

Charlie frowned and got on one knee in front of Bella and Renesmee. I could see the image in Renesmee's mind, the blood running through Charlie's veins, but she wanted to touch him not for her thirst, but for who he was. She raised her hand towards him and Bella stopped her immediately.

Renesmee put her hand on Bella to show her that she had understood what I had asked her.

Before they did something, Charlie gasped again. "Whoa. How old is she?" he asked while he saw her smile and the teeth behind it.

"Um…"

"Three months," I answered for Bella. We hadn't spoken about that, so it was normal that she didn't have any idea of what to say. "rather, she's the size of a three-month-old, more or less. She's younger in some ways, more mature in others."

Renesmee shook her hands towards Charlie, wanting to touch him too. Jacob saw Charlie's reaction, and patted him on his elbow lightly. "Told you she was special, didn't I?"

Again, Charlie shuddered and got away form Jacob. It seemed, he didn't get used to the fact that Jacob was a werewolf yet. "Oh, c'mon, Charlie." Jacob complained. "I'm the same person I've always been. Just pretend this afternoon didn't happen."

Charlie nodded. "Just what is your part in all this, Jake? How much does Billy know? Why are you here?"

The same thing I would've wanted to ask him. Jacob answered him while he stared at Renesmee. "Well, I could tell you all about it—Billy knows absolutely everything—but it involves a lot of stuff about werewo—"

"Ungh! Never mind." Charlie said covering his ears.

Jacob smiled at him. "Everything's going to be great, Charlie. Just try to not believe anything you see."

Charlie whispered under his breath some words, no one understood; though I had a slight idea of what they were because of his thoughts, I wasn't sure anyway. Emmett decided it was time to lighten the situation.

_Listen this, little brother. I'll distract him…_ he told me, while Emmett yelled. "Woo! Go, Gators!"

We all stayed quiet when we heard Emmett, only Charlie and Jacob reacted, jumping up out of surprise. Charlie turned toward Emmett and asked him. "Florida, winning?"

"Just scored the first touchdown," Emmett told him, turning his eyes toward Bella. He ignored the fact that it would be very bad for him if he said what he had in his mind with me. "'Bout time somebody scored around here."

Charlie took a deep breath, ignoring what Emmett had said, he stood and sat on a free chair. "Well, I guess we should see if they can hold on to the lead."

I was impressed if seeing how Bella had been able to keep herself concentrated in not doing anything that could hurt Charlie, even Renesmee. That only made me feel so much more proud of the family I had by my side. I wasn't the only one impressed.

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**Thanks to all those readers who reviewed but I couldn't answer back. Thank to all those readers who reviewed but I couldn't answer back. Thank you.**


	27. Chapter 26, SHINY

**Hi there!**

**Well, just updating this new chapter, with the condition of receiving a few reviews, come on! I got a good response from you readers after "the" message, but then, on the next chapter, not so good, girls. Well, I hope again that you respond, huh?**

**About the next chapter, I'm a little late with the writing, so it will probably take me more than a week to upload it, but I'll try to not make it more than two weeks. So... don't get too impatient.**

**Enjoy this chapter, and really hope you love it!**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

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CHAPTER 26. Shiny

It was all going much better than what none of us, would have never imagined it would. Hours passed and Charlie kept, maybe not completely comfortable, talking with each one of the members of my family. At the beginning it was a little bit tense, but Jasper was present the whole while, trying to make conversation and the time a bit more pleasant among Charlie and my family, and with the minutes and my sister's, Alice, presence he felt the more confident and almost forgot about all the lies that had been told to him before to protecting as much him as Bella and us. It was almost impossible for Charlie to resist to Alice's good mood that was actually catching. His mind was more relaxed than it what it looked like outside, only Jasper and I knew better than no one that Charlie wasn't as uncomfortable or tense as he seemed like.

Seth and Jacob were there the whole evening too, and just like with us, Charlie slowly got used to the idea that Jacob was not just _simple_ human being. To have that present during the entire time, also helped Charlie to get distracted and at the same time to think about us.

So the entire time I was looking through his mind for the _theories_ that I was expecting Charlie to have about is, but nothing of what he thought about got close to what we really were. As I had told Jacob once, it would be very difficult for him to know what we actually were, out description was nothing alike to the one of a vampire from movies and from people who had taken care of commercialize it.

There was a critical moment, in which I really worried about what Charlie was thinking, but he considered it so ridiculous that that option were even possible, that he banished it quickly from his mind, or at least that's what I perceived. I could never be one hundred percent sure that Charlie forgot about his theories completely or if he just pushed them aside to consider some new ones. There was a moment in which he considered radiation, too; just like Bella had before. I would have laughed, but I was supposed to not be able to hear what he was thinking, so I held back. Only Alice noticed the change in my expression, how my lips twisted up into what seemed like a smiled, and Jasper with his talented gift.

_What is it, Edward? What's so funny?_ Alice complained after a few second of looking at me.

I shook my head slightly. There was no way I was going to explain it to her in front of everyone… she should know better.

"_You're not even close,"_ I almost answered to Charlie when I heard what he was considering and ignored Alice and her demands to me to tell her what caused me so much amusement. Her insistence, sometimes, was a bit annoying.

"_Kryptonite doesn't bother me, either,"_ I would've told Charlie if we'd been talking out loud, like Bella and I had been.

I guessed that their minds weren't that different, after all, all the combination of his genes and Renée's had made Bella someone unique.

Emmett didn't stop making jokes during the football games that they watched while Charlie were here, and after during the commentaries and the news…

I tried to make Emmett to shut up and didn't say anything about that, to control himself, but in that matter, in joking, it was almost as difficult to stop Emmett as it was Alice to shop. He always told me his joke before in his mind, his tone sounded like someone's who asks permission to tell a joke before telling it to everyone surrounding him, and though I refused, the joked ended up heard. Charlie never noticed the double meaning to such, too absorbed in his thoughts to pay them some attention to Emmett's nonsense. Partly, that was the reason why he kept joking around.

I think that at the end of several hours, and when seeing Bella with Renesmee in her arms, and I by their sides, he convinced himself that this _change_ wasn't as bad as he'd thought it was. Something of the sort seemed to be what I saw in his mind. But Jasper felt, too, a note of regret. I wasn't completely sure why was that, maybe it was about what he thought we were and now his only daughter, too. After all, his thoughts and actions had always been directed toward Bella in a way that had been almost protective, I had noticed so since that first time, with that accident in the school. And though his words never showed all the almost overwhelming love he felt for Bella, it was there. So I understood, now more than ever, the worry and regrets for having let her leave his side, even when he was sure that she was happy.

After my return, he had refused vehemently to Bella to come back with me, or rather, that I came back with her, because the change was so amazingly impressive, even if Charlie had not allowed it, I don't think I would have been able to stay away from her, or she from me. As long as Bella were happy, I would be there and Charlie knew it, he had always known.

We spoke a little about everything while Charlie was with us. The main _attraction_, of course, was Renesmee; and thought very few times Charlie talked about her by her name, I could see deeply that he remembered her as Nessie instead of Renesmee. I wasn't sure which would be Bella's reaction when she heard him, but I was sure that she wouldn't be happy at all that another person would be added to the list of those who called Renesmee as Nessie. Even I was having a difficult time trying to remember her as Renesmee.

And though Charlie had, supposedly, complained about us making him a grandpa so soon, deeply I could see that he was marveled with the idea.

Just like Jacob had noticed.

It bothered me to count in my head all the times that Jacob had done something for us and because of that, I undoubtedly owed him my gratitude, but it was that way. He had been in the most difficult moment in my Bella's life, he had taken care of her and had saved her from dying drowned – I shuddered in my insides, remembering the pain Rosalie's words had caused in me when she had told me that, though it had been even worse to heard it from Jacob – and from Victoria, so many times he had been there for her and I hadn't. And even when I was there he had saved her, he had been the one to give his permission to me for changing Bella, he had been there helping me to save her even when he'd given in; and to make it worse, he had saved Renesmee, too, with his imprinting…

I tried to focus on the conversation. But it was difficult, only Bella and Alice could tell that I wasn't completely there. My mind was divided in two, my attention was on Charlie, looking for things that he didn't say out loud, his theories had already ceased of being a worry, they were nothing more than that, theories.

But there was something in the back of his mind, that I couldn't quite identify, something like regret, but of course, I couldn't be sure if that was actually true.

Renesmee was delighted of being with her another grandfather. It was almost obvious how she already loved him the same way she loved Carlisle and Esme. Bella and Charlie would be happy and excited if they could see the same thing I saw in Nessie. The love toward her grandfather. I knew that if my parents were alive, and they would've had the chance of see me turned into a family man, they would also be delighted, and much more of seeing the beautiful granddaughter they'd had. They'd be proud; I felt a pang of pain, remembering my parents, especially my mother. I could imagine the expression in her face in each of the especial moments of my existence. When I met Bella and I realized that I was in love with her, when we decided to spend the rest of our existence together, and then getting married, having a daughter and making a family…

But that was something that could have happened, if the make-believe and horror storied were only a making of people, and not something real.

I deeply was glad that they were real, if they weren't, I would have never met Bella, I would have never met love. How could I repudiate all of these things, when thanks to them, I had met my angel, they had brought me true happiness?

Seth's thoughts interrupted me for a moment, his eyes were on the hands of the clock moving with impatient quickness, despite that – like everyone else – he had thought this afternoon a very long one.

_It's getting late, and Charlie won't even move. My mom must be wondering where he is…_

I was about to ask them to stay for dinner in the house, and then reconsidered when I heard Seth thinking of his mom. It seemed, that Sue was cooking for Charlie. I was sure that Bella would be glad when she knew. She had always been a bit scared of the way Charlie cooked for himself. I didn't want to force my family to eat something as revolting as human food, either, so I kept silence.

_I'll leave him a while longer, and if he won't move, I'll remind him about it._ Seth finished thinking. Deciding to give a little more time to Charlie.

One by one, the members of my family were dispersing themselves off the conversation, leaving only Bella and Charlie, Renesmee was still in Bella's arms, and I by their sides. Alice and Jasper were the first ones in removing themselves, I heard them walking to the staircase, and Alice sitting down, Jasper laid his head over her lap. It was like Jacob had once considered our looks, like we were having a conversation without speaking out loud Bella and I. Jasper and Alice had a very similar way, only that they didn't need to look into each other's eyes, their relationship had always been that way.

Charlie, at first, didn't seem to notice what everyone else were doing.

Esme and Carlisle apologized and retired. I heard them both going upstairs, Carlisle towards his office to take a book, and Esme towards her bedroom to take a notebook. The time it took them, was enough to not _scare_ or _upset_ Charlie with their quickness. The two of them sat and started reading and drawing respectively. Esme was making the final design for Nessie's room, she wanted it to be ready for her, as soon as possible.

Emmett was the least anxious one to get away from Charlie, and his jokes, but Rosalie forced him. Emmett took a set of cards from his pocket, and the two of them sat under the staircase. They began building a house with the cards.

Later than what I would have imagined, Seth stood up and came to us. It was time to go.

Charlie turned to Seth very unwillingly, he had been staring at Nessie, and he seemed to want to keep doing that in that instant.

_I think it's time…_ "Ahm, Charlie?"

"What, Seth?" Charlie had asked him, his tone reflected a little bit of the tension he still felt.

"You gonna stand Billy and my mom up, Charlie? C'mon. Bella and Nessie'll be here tomorrow. Let's get some grub, eh?"

Charlie's mind had become a mixture of doubt and longing. I guessed that the doubt was about what Seth had told him, maybe he still wasn't sure that we were really going to be here, as Jacob had assured him and sporadically Bella, too. Not directly, because Charlie never actually asked in a direct way. And the longing, maybe it was about hunger, and wanting to eat whatever it was Sue had cooked for him. I laughed to my inside, remembering the many times in which I had read the same thing from him, but directed to Bella.

Nessie had fallen asleep several minutes ago, so she was completely unaware, and I could already see, how Charlie starred in her dreams, too.

Charlie nodded, then, and Seth pulled him towards the entrance. His expression wasn't content, it was as if he didn't want to leave, and something like that I could see in his mind. Bella stood with Charlie, Nessie in her arms.

"See you later, Charlie." I said goodbye to him, before going to my piano to leave Bella say goodbye to her father for this day.

"Sure, Edward," it seemed, that he yet, didn't believe that he would really see us again.

Jacob stood up, too and said goodbye to Charlie, who was surprised when he heard that he was staying instead of leaving with them. After that he went to the kitchen, because he also, was hungry. He asked Seth to come back in the morning, if he wanted to. With him and Leah would be enough for tonight. Not that everything had gone back to normality, or something like that, there was no need for the three of them to watch over the house, twenty-four seven.

Bella turned to see me, and I smiled at her. She then returned her eyes to Charlie to walk him to the door, while I went over and sat on the bench in front of the piano. I started playing very lightly, maybe it would be barely audible to Charlie. I wondered what he'd think about it, but his thoughts were focused on Bella, and I saw mixed in his thought the name of Renée.

Before getting out of the house completely, Charlie stopped and turned around to Bella. Seth had told him he'd wait for him in the car.

"I don't know how much we should tell Renée about this," Charlie said to her, his stomach growling.

I neither knew, if something, for as minimal as it was, should be told to Renée. With her it would be much harder than with Charlie. She perhaps would decipher the truth much quicker than Bella did.

Alice rested her eyes on them to give me a better _sight_ of what was happening. I smiled and shook my head slowly.

_Do you want to see what happens? I don't think you can see well through Charlie…_

I had only once commented to Alice how difficult it was for me to see through Charlie, when we had been in Phoenix with Bella in the hospital. Nor she nor me, had come to an explanation of why Bella was completely silent to me.

Bella nodded, and told him, "I know. I don't to freak her out. Better to protect her. This stuff isn't for the fainthearted."

Surprising me, Charlie's thought took a different path.

His lips twitched in a sad way, at the same time Jasper felt that same feeling emanating from Charlie. "I would have tried to protect you, too, if I'd known how. But I guess you've never fit into the fainthearted category, have you?"

Bella smiled at him.

_In that he's right…_ Alice was thinking.

If only Charlie knew how much we had tried to protect and push her away from this life some other people. Jacob and I, especially, or only rather. But like he had said, Bella had never fit into that category, much less wanted to be included into it. I reminded myself that that didn't matter anymore, that the only important thing was that Bella was happy now.

And, luckily, she was happy by my side.

Charlie patted his stomach, and said, "I'll think of something. We have time to discuss this, right?"

"Right." Bella answered.

Even when Bella had assured him it would be like that, when Jacob had also assured him so if he could handle all the strange parts that he saw in front of his eyes, there still seemed to be a tone of doubt in his thoughts. It was normal, I reminded myself.

While I was waiting for Charlie to leave, my mind began turning around the issue, the situation. Charlie had spent almost the entire evening in our house, and never, for any moment, Jasper or I had we seen in Bella – or even Nessie – some sign that warned us they were going to lose control or do something they shouldn't. Bella had been doing amazingly.

At this moment, it was when I realized, that we had really made it.

I didn't have to see Charlie leaving, and getting enough away or to arrive home, to know that Bella would not hurt him and that she would really be able to have him in her new life. For a while at least, before the time to leave and left him behind came. I knew it'd be sad for Bella, and now Nessie, but necessary, too. They'd not be able, we'd not be able to have Charlie in our live forever. Even, when now, I could accept, that perhaps there _was_ something more for us after this life. But this was more about Bella, it wasn't something that she thought logically and critically.

Esme and Carlisle, especially, felt suddenly, surprising me, a pang of sadness when they heard Charlie. They knew as I did, that our presence was temporary and not very long.

And as if Charlie knew that, too, he told Bella, "Jake says you guys were going to take off on me?"

"I didn't want to do that if there was any way at all around it. That's why we're still here." Bella explained.

I knew that this issue was a hard one, and much more, because of the fact that Bella couldn't explain to him the real reasons we had to leave away from Charlie, to never see him again…

"He said you could stay for a while, but only if I'm tough enough, and if I can keep my mouth shut."

Well, at least Jacob had been completely honest with Charlie about that matter.

There were lots of things to consider before assuring Charlie that we would be here forever. For the next time, there would have to be at least sixty years. But again, there weren't things we were going to we were able to explain to Charlie.

"Yes… but I can't promise that we'll never leave, Dad. It's pretty complicated…"

"Need to know," Charlie interrupted her, desperate in his mind, for not listening to something that he actually wouldn't want to hear.

"Right."

This was the hardest part of this life. Maybe, I had been the only one, aside from Alice in that we hadn't suffered over these things when we changed. I had already lost my parents, and Alice didn't have any memory from her human life. Everyone else, had lost more than just their lives.

The words that I had told Bella a while ago, resounded in my mind. _"It gets easier. After a few decades, everyone you know is dead. Problem solved."_

I was glad, that at least Bella didn't have to give up on her father before time.

"You'll visit, though, if you have to go?" Charlie asked.

"I promise, Dad. Now that you know just enough, I think this can work. I'll keep as close as you want."

In that Bella was right. It had always been her plan, she had always wanted this to happen this way or something like this. Maybe not with Jacob showing Charlie that he wasn't completely human, but a werewolf like the ones from movies, but at the end, Charlie was here, accepting the new Bella he was seeing in front of him, but it was only her physical that had changed, her insides not. Charlie should know.

I saw Charlie biting his lips for half a second, in his mind there was only confusion and doubt. He seemed to want to hug Bella, but wasn't sure.

After half a second of thinking about it, I saw him leaning down to Bella and confirmed my guesses.

He stretched his arms, and Bella changed Renesmee to her other arm to stretch out hers around Charlie. And though Charlie was completely aware of my anxious family's look, everyone was impressed by the personal control that Bella was exerting to do this simple human gesture.

Jasper was intent, his attention almost completely on Bella and Charlie while they were so close together.

_Oh, I'm so happy Bella can be with her father, too._ Esme thought gleefully.

Alice spoke to me, _it's really amazing how she's doing it, Edward!_

"Keep real close, Bells," Charlie whispered, so low that if we were humans we wouldn't have been able to hear. "Real close."

"Love you, Dad."

"Love you, too, kid. Whatever had changed, that hasn't." his eyes returned to Nessie, then. He raised one of his hands, and he touched gently one of her cheeks with his finger. "She sure looks a lot like you."

I didn't expect Bella saying, _yes, she's just like me,_ but neither I expected to listen to the same thing I had been hearing my family saying in the past days.

"More like Edward, I think," Bella said.

_We told you so, son. She's got your face…_ Esme confirmed to me again.

I heard Bella finish, after a thousandth of a second of hesitation. "She has your curls."

Well, that should be true. I smiled to myself.

Grandfather, the word repeated over and over again in his mind, I was surprised of being able to see it so clearly, and I imagined that it was maybe because Charlie was thinking only on that, probably trying to get used to that idea.

"Huh," Charlie snorted. "I guess she does. Huh. Grandpa." He shook his head, and then he said, "Do I ever get to hold her?"

Bella blinked, and according to Jasper, she felt a pang of shock.

I got rigid by imagining Nessie in Charlie's arms, though she was completely sound asleep in Bella's arms, I could not help it. I almost felt it like a reflex reaction.

Jasper felt the shock leaving Bella. Was she really letting him hold Nessie?

Calm down, I told myself. Nessie was asleep, and she so perfectly good like Bella this day. There was nothing I had to worry about. I convinced myself after several times of repeating the same thing over and over again. Nessie hadn't bite or showed something to Charlie, so I doubted that something could go wrong if Charlie had her in his arms.

Rosalie and Jasper turned to see me, though I kept my look fixed on the keys of the piano, and what Alice was showing me between Charlie and Bella.

"Here," Bella told him, and she stretched her arms out to Charlie with Nessie in them.

I turned quickly towards Alice, out of habit. But without turning her look to me, she shook her head and frowned.

_I can't see anything, Edward. You know Nessie is involved; it's just like with the wolves. Everything disappears, so turn around._

I made a face, but obeyed Alice and returned my look to the piano.

Charlie formed a crib with his arms to hold Nessie, and then Bella let her go into her grandpa's arms and step away.

As soon as he had her in his arms, Charlie growled a bit. "She's… sturdy."

Bella frowned her forehead, and I could imagine the reason behind that expression. To us, nothing, felt heavy. I smiled again.

"Sturdy is good," Charlie told her when he saw Bella's expression, misunderstanding her. "She'll need to be tough, surrounded by all this craziness." Charlie whispered, but it seemed more like for himself than for everyone else to hear, something he didn't know we could. He started swinging Nessie from one side to the other, his eyes on her little face. "Prettiest baby I've ever seen, including you, kid. Sorry, but it's true."

"I know it is." Bella answered him.

There was no way that her mother were going to deny that. But in this occasion, we weren't like those parents who thought our daughter to be the prettiest baby in the world, just because of the fact that it was our daughter, like Charlie said, it was the most beautiful baby anyone had ever seen.

"Pretty baby," Charlie said, more like a hum than words.

Charlie turned to see Bella after a few second, and told her. "Can I come back tomorrow?"

_Great…_ Emmett thought, at the same time that he was thinking of new jokes and insinuations.

Knowing I could hear him, I turned to see him at the same time that he looked at me. I glared at him a bit, and shook my head. _What?_ He asked me, his tone was saturated of phony innocence.

"Sure, Dad. Of course. We'll be here."

Jacob had been hidden in the kitchen all this while, eating what he could, he made himself heard for the first time. _They'd better be._

"You'd better be," Charlie almost ordered Bella, his look returned to Nessie. "See you tomorrow, Nessie."

Uh-oh.

"Not you, too!" Bella immediately complained.

_Is she never going to accept it?_ Alice thought when hearing Bella's reaction.

"Huh?"

"Her name is Renesmee. Like Renée and Esme, put together. No variations."

Her tone was upset, and with fair reason, I thought. Then I corrected myself, knowing that her nickname had stuck with me already.

Esme raised her face towards Bella, but given she wasn't looking at her, she turned to see me.

_I think it was obvious,_ she told me. _But I didn't think she was going to put my name on your daughter's._ Esme grinned openly at me, her eyes sparkling with a deep emotion when knowing that her name, that the grandma's were part of her granddaughter's name, and that made her happier than anything.

Bella took a deep breath, and she spoke again, more calmed. "Do you want to hear her middle name?"

"Sure." Charlie answered.

"Carlie. With a C. like Carlisle and Charlie put together."

Charlie's face lightened with a smile. His thoughts were once again a mixture of several things, but the emotion he felt the strongest, was a immense happiness, Jasper confirmed it.

"Thanks, Bells."

"Thank you, Dad. So much has changed so quickly. My head hasn't stopped spinning. If I didn't have you now, I don't know how I'd keep my grip on—on reality." It seemed like Bella had changed in the last instant what she was going to say. I wondered absently what she was going to say.

Perhaps she remembered the condition of Charlie. Need to know. Who would have imagined that having him in our lives would be easier than what planned?

I was glad for Bella.

Charlie's stomach growled, then.

"Go eat, Dad." Bella asked him. "We will be here."

Charlie nodded, and he seemed to not want to leave when he gave Nessie back into Bella's eyes. I was distracted for a moment because of that image, my two angels together. So I wasn't aware of what Charlie was doing, Alice had taken his look off him.

I had a moment of shock, when I realized that Bella had really made it. That she could have Charlie in her new life without the need of waiting a year at the least to be able to see him. That she could keep having a father-daughter relationship, and even he would see our daughter, his granddaughter growing for a while, that she would have some living together with his grandpa like any other normal family.

For a moment I was attacked by a wave of happiness of seeing how everything was in its place. How my all fears and regrets weren't with me now.

I didn't regret having changed Bella, because I would never lose her, because we would always have our own heaven, our own paradise. What would I want heaven if I had complete happiness with me for?

I had more than what I had never imagined, like I had said to Bella, more than what I would have ever asked for. In that moment, I couldn't see or listen anywhere nearby to the cruel fate trying to take happiness, my family away from me. There was nothing more that she could hurt me with, she could make me miserable with for the rest of the eternity as long as I had Bella and Renesmee with me forever.

_For ever,_ those words never had more meaning to me than in this moment.

What before had been pure misery and nothing in this world, was now all the opposite. I couldn't ask anything else to this life. Now my only job was to make my two angels happy.

It took me a lot of work to stay in the piano, and not sprinting towards Bella and Nessie to wrap my arms around them. I was even happier, because Bella had more than what I had imagined she would. It was almost the same for both, almost. I knew it would be perfect in its totality, if at least she could see Renée again, and like Charlie, she could meet or even know about the existence of her only granddaughter.

Still, life was being very generous with us.

I was distracted from my happiness when I heard Charlie sigh, and then saying, "See you tomorrow, Bella." he stopped for a second and continued. "I mean, it's not like you don't look… good. I'll get used to it."

"Thanks, Dad."

I turned when I heard Charlie's footsteps walking out of the house, and then walking towards his car where Seth was waiting for him.

I waited in the piano, Bella was still looking towards the place where Charlie's car was and then while it drove away. I heard each one of my family's thought impressed. I couldn't believe everything had gone perfect.

_Maybe it is her gift…_ Carlisle was musing, he had put his book aside.

Esme and Alice were thinking almost the exact thing, they were marveled with Bella and with everything gone well, they were only expecting everything to go the same way. Just like I was, and something told me it would.

Rosalie was happy, too. _I'm so glad that nothing had happened. Bella was great._

The sound of tires walking onto wet road disappeared slowly.

I heard Jasper wondering again how was it possible that Bella were so controlled, but the answer didn't worry or bother him so much as yesterday…

_No doubt they didn't destroy their house…_ Emmett was thinking, while he was comparing the control of Bella in her first day of newborn with his. Thinking that if she could hold back this way, _maybe in the bed she doesn't have…_

Luckily, Bella spoke and set me free of having to keep listening to Emmett, though in the bottom of my mind there were his words. I tried to ignore them.

"Wow," Bella said.

I rose quickly from the bench I was sat on to stop behind Bella. I wrapped both my arms around her waist and rested my chin on her shoulder. "You took the word right out of my mouth."

"Edward, I did it!"

"You did. You were unbelievable. All that worrying over being a newborn, and then you skip it altogether." I lightly laughed, also listening to what Emmett was thinking about.

_Something's off in your venom, bro… maybe it's not as efficient as it is other vampire's._

"I'm not even sure she's a vampire, let alone a newborn," Emmett said, complementing his comment. "She too tame."

Bella hissed, probably remembering all the insinuations and jokes that Emmett had done while Charlie had been here. I didn't try to calm her down, Nessie was in her arms so I didn't think that there were going to be a problem. Though with Bella…

"Oooo, scary," Emmett laughed, and I remembered what I had asked to Bella while she was still human.

He deserved someone to give him some of his own medicine, something to hit him right into his big ego.

"_How strong will _I_ be?"_ I remembered that afternoon with Bella.

"_Stronger than I am,"_ I had told her with a smile.

"_Stronger than Emmett?"_

"_Yes. Do me a favor and challenge him to an arm-wrestling match. It would be a good experience for him."_

I wasn't completely certain that Bella were going to remember, the most likely thing was that she were…

While I considered reminding Bella the little favor I had asked her for a few weeks ago, I heard hissing in answer to Emmett. Nessie moved in her arms, her mind getting clearer and her dreams and colors falling behind. Then she opened her eyes, and the first thing that went through her mind was Charlie's face, she was wondering where he was. She raised her hand towards Bella, and showed her what she wanted to know.

_Where's Grandpa Charlie?_ I heard Nessie asking.

"Charlie will be back tomorrow."

_More fun, little brother. Your father-in-law's gonna love this…_

"Excellent," Emmett laughed alone with Rosalie, that couldn't help it this time. Emmett was so immature.

But, it had already been enough. Like I had thought already, it would be a good experience for Emmett, and I was hoping it worked, to hit his ego, of course. I was sure Bella would beat him the time that she wished in this first year, at least.

"Not brilliant, Emmett," I told him, then I stretched my arms towards Bella so I would take Nessie in my arms. Bella, without understanding what was happening, hesitated, and I winked at her.

Emmett was confused, not completely understanding what I meant. _Huh?_

_Daddy?_ Nessie was also confused while Bella gave her to me.

"What do you mean?" Emmett asked.

"It's a little dense, don't you think, to antagonize the strongest vampire in the house?" I told him, expecting his reaction.

As I supposed, Emmett snorted, as if what I had just told him didn't have a little bit of truth. "Please!"

_Do you think that with being all that _tame_, she's gonna beat me? Ha, good joke, Edward._

I would have shut him up myself, but it would be more effective for Bella to do it. "Bella," _what is it? C'mon, Edward tell us._ "Do you remember a few months ago, I asked you to do me a favor once you were immortal?"

Bella stayed quiet for a moment, trying to remember, I thought, what I meant.

"Oh!" Bella gasped, remembering.

_That'd be great, Edward. You're a genius._ Alice thought while she started laughing when she saw what'd happen in a few moments.

I held my laugh, too. I would rather do it once it was done.

_What you're talking about? I don't get it… what favor?_

I heard Jacob leaning out into the room, us five getting into his sight.

"What?" Emmett asked when I didn't answer him, and Bella kept saying nothing.

"Really?" Bella turned to me, hesitant.

"Trust me."

Emmett was getting even more anxious with every passing second, he hated when he didn't know what others were talking about, even when in this occasion I wasn't keep a conversation with Bella's thoughts, I had no idea what she was thinking.

For a thousandth of a second I felt a pang of frustration, and then controlled myself.

I should be used to it at this point, but I wasn't.

Bella took a deep breath, and spoke to Emmett. "Emmett, how do you feel about a little bet?"

The excitement that Emmett felt was almost the same one that shot through Jasper. The two of them loved bets. I could see how Jasper was starting to consider some things for him to get in. And I could see that he was so close to guess which would the bet be.

Emmett stood immediately, "Awesome. Bring it."

Bella bit down her lip instead of telling Emmett what it was about. I understood her reaction, she hadn't compared her strength against any other vampire's, animals were not even half a _worthy_ competitor against us.

"Unless you're too afraid…?" Emmett said.

Bella took courage and told him, "You. Me. Arm-wrestling. Dining room table. Now."

_Dining room table?_ Esme wondered, almost horrified.

Emmett's laughter got louder when he considered the way he'd beat Bella. Was he really that naïve as to believe he would beat a newborn? Yes, yes he was.

Something to our advantage.

"Er, Bella," Alice called her, _Esme won't be happy if they ruin that table,_ she was thinking after having seen the face she'd made when she'd heard Bella. "I think Esme is fairly fond of that table. It's an antique."

_Do they think that's gonna keep me from beating my little sister?_

"Thanks," Esme said to Alice in silence.

"No problem," Emmett said, still smiling. "Right this way, Bella."

_It's a shame that she's not human anymore, all the sweat…_ Emmett was considering that human reactions Bella would have had if not for being a vampire like us. Well, this he was going to do wouldn't have any sense if Bella were still human.

Bella and everyone else followed Emmett outside. In his mind there was just one goal to reach outside of the house. The perfect place to make the arm-wrestling match.

Alice, could see, she was the most anxious for this game to reach its ending to see her vision coming true. She wanted to laugh at Emmett's face when he lost, still without vision, Alice just like everyone else, knew that Bella would win, being a newborn and with the strength she still had and would still have for at least a year.

_This is the perfect place to beat my little sister…_ Emmett thought while he got settled, he put his elbow over the rock in front of him, and then he indicated Bella to get closer.

Jasper felt the change in Bella suddenly when he saw Emmett. She was nervous. I knew there was no reason for her to be, but in her place I might feel the same way, I didn't have any idea how much strength she had, she hadn't been able to use so far, all the opposite, she had been trying to hold herself back.

We all felt that way some time, or rather, always that we were surrounded by weak and human witnesses.

But I was sure that Bella would win this match.

Nessie turned to see me, and put her little hand on my cheek. _Mommy will play with uncle Emmett?_

I wasn't going to get explaining to Renesmee that her mom wasn't, exactly, playing with her uncle Emmett, so I just nodded and smile at her, while I caressed lightly her cheek. Nessie only smiled in response at me.

The two of us turned our looks towards Emmett and Bella that was already settling in front of Emmett.

""Okay, Emmett. I win, and you cannot say one more word about my sex life to anyone, not even Rose. No allusions, no innuendos—no nothing."

_If you want it that way…_ Emmett thought, his eyes narrowing.

For a short second, I considered the idea of asking Bella to not do anything, I didn't want to imagine how would it be if Emmett won, but I held back, knowing that that wouldn't happen.

"Deal. I win, and it's going to get a lot worse." Emmett said.

Bella's breathing stopped when she considered such thing, and Emmett laughed in a naughty way.

_And you've no idea how worse will it be, little bro…_ Emmett told me, knowing that this _bet_ had been my idea and not Bella's.

I ignored him. Again, I was sure that Bella'd win, if she knew what was good.

_This is getting good._ Jasper was thinking, he liked betting as much as Emmett did. Sometimes they didn't do anything else but that, betting and betting.

"You gonna back down so easy, little sister?" Emmett said, trying to make Bella back down. ""Not much wild about you, is there? I bet that cottage doesn't have a scratch." Emmett laughed, he was over-crossing the line. "Did Edward tell you how many houses Rose and I smashed?"

_Emmett!_ Rosalie yelled in her mind, and I was sure that if she could have been able to blush, she would be red, but deeply I sensed a tone of conceit.

Carlisle and Esme only shook their heads when they listened how immature Emmett sounded.

Bella took Emmett's hand, and I heard her grinding together her teeth. "One, two-"

"Three," Emmett finished for her. Then he started pushing Bella's hand down.

Emmett, at the beginning, didn't exert all his strength, so his confidence didn't diminish when he saw Bella's arm not moving at all.

_I'll give you everything I have then. This I win._ Emmett was too much confident in his strength at that moment. He had always been the strongest of us all, after Jasper. I would never know if Jasper was really the strongest one, or the fact that having so much experience in fights against newborns had given him an experience and wisdom for winning each match he had against Emmett. And though he had never won one match against me, I knew it had to be with my ability of reading minds and with how fast I was. Of course, I would never accept this. Not in front of Emmett.

Emmett exerted, then, his entire strength. He hadn't thought before that he would actually need to use it to beat Bella, and now he realized, though unwillingly for it to not be.

According to what Jasper felt, Bella was enjoying herself in this little match between them.

_She'll beat him. Now I wish I had bet something. Ha._ Jasper was having fun, too.

We were all entertained, even Renesmee was – only because she thought that her mommy and her uncle were _playing_ – and Jacob.

Emmett was getting more and more frustrated each passing moment, Bella's hand was still unmoving absolutely nothing against Emmett's strength. I grinned hugely when I saw Emmett's thoughts again.

Nessie turned to see me quickly before turning back her look to the _game_.

_Move, move. I can't lose._ Emmett complained inwardly. _I still have so many jokes that Charlie hadn't heard. Dammit!_

I shook my head while I listened to the so many jokes that Emmett was hoping he still could tell in front of Charlie tomorrow when he came back. And I was even more glad that Bella were going to win. Simply, this, Charlie wouldn't be unaware of that the comment of Emmett weren't just about that, but insinuations about her daughter's sex life with me.

Thought, deeply, I couldn't believe that Charlie hadn't heard the real meaning behind what Emmett had said over and over again. He had been too occupied thinking about the situation.

Such that in these moments, every time that Emmett said something, I was happy Charlie didn't hear.

I think Emmett's patience reached its limit, which wasn't very far, Emmett wasn't known for being very patient. He growled, and then his forehead wrinkled, still trying of, even, moving one inch of Bella. Which didn't seem to going to happen, not so soon at least.

_She really is strong,_ Jacob thought. _I bet that her hand wouldn't break now if she hit me in the head._ He thought jokingly, remembering that time in which Bella had broken herself her hand when hitting him.

Thought the memory was _old_ in a way, and it didn't have such a sour tone to me, because Bella hadn't been happy that Jacob kissed her like the other time…

I stopped dead that thought immediately, I didn't want to remember it. But Jacob was right, his head wasn't now as hard as it had been when Bella had been human. The sound of Bella's laughter distracted me, and had my attention back at her.

Nessie smiled when she heard Bella, too. _It's a fun game mommy and uncle are playing._

Yes, it was – I wanted to tell her – but only to Bella.

Emmett snarled again when she heard Bella laughing, _this isn't over._

"Just keep your mouth shut," Bella said, and finally, she pushed Emmett's hand down until it crashed against the rock and made a sound that sounded too loud. Renesmee startled a little when she heard it, and her hands tightened against my shirt for a second, then she released them when she saw her Uncle Emmett fine.

_No… how? No, my jokes._ Emmett was whining at the same time that we saw the rock breaking into a few pieces. One of them falling onto Emmett's foot. _Damn it!_

I tried to not burst into laughter as I would have wanted to, and I heard by my side to Jacob trying to not laugh either as he wanted.

_We all knew he was going to lose._ Alice thought. _His face is priceless._

We heard a little laughter from Bella, and that got Emmett even moodier.

And Nessie, on the opposite, got her on a better mood. Though it was difficult that Nessie were on a bad mood in any occasion. She was so delighted seeing her mom laughing, though she didn't understand pretty well why her Uncle was upset. It was a game for her, after all.

Emmett kicked the rock that had fallen onto his foot, cursing the entire time. _You damn rock!_

He made more of an unnecessary show. The rock was hit towards a maple, breaking it into the half and then falling over a fir, that fell down onto another tree. That simple thing, made Emmett happier, as if that were confirming he was still _strong_.

This time Nessie didn't startle, she just found the scene amusing. Her smile kept in place.

I shook my head to such thing.

_This isn't the end._ Emmett thought before turning to Bella.

"Rematch. Tomorrow."

"It's not going to wear off that fast," Bella told him. "Maybe you ought to give it a month."

_Yeah, right._ Emmett growled, and then told her. "Tomorrow."

_More games? Yes!_ Renesmee thought, excited.

"Hey, whatever makes you happy, big brother."

_You losing would make him happy._ Alice chuckled. _And I don't think that'll happen._

Emmett turned around to get away, upset, and so he would release some of his rage, he hit a rock with his fist and this broke into pieces and dust down. Bella's eyes didn't take off from the rubble, and a peculiar feeling filled her.

Bella was more than excited of seeing how strong she was, I could see that in her expression, in her face.

We all kept staring at Bella, watching what she was doing. I think Renesmee and I were the more intent on each of her moves.

One thing was sure, Bella wasn't completely a normal newborn, but her strength was exactly like one. I hadn't doubt it, but I had heard Jasper considering it that option, that Bella wasn't as strong as normal newborn vampires. Bella had proved to us that she was as strong as we all had been.

I should've expected Bella's reaction after having won that match, but I didn't.

Bella put her hand completely outstretched over the rock, and then she crushed it, her hand burying itself slowly into the rock, then she got it out and a fistful of gravel was in her hand.

_So childish._ Alice commented.

"Cool." Bella whispered when she saw what she now could do.

Bella grinned hugely, and what I wouldn't have given just to have even if it only was a glimpse into her mind at that moment.

Without expecting so, not even Alice maybe because it was a sudden decision, Bella turned completely around and launched her hand towards the rock, breaking it into two.

Bella laughed and giggled while she enjoyed of what she was doing.

We all joined at her, while we watched her keep playing with the remains of the rock that a few moments ago had been intact.

They all turned to see me in different moments, and separately now and then while they watched at Bella. They were still surprised of seeing how everything had turned out quite well, of how everything was working out now for us, especially for Bella and for me. Alice was happy of knowing that Bella would be her sister forever, excited of knowing that finally her _visions_ had come true, even when it had already been a day; Jasper was happy, too, it didn't matter that he didn't understand how was it possible that Bella had so much personal control at just two days of being born, je felt the happiness that emanated from the family in this moment; Carlisle and Esme seemed to in sync, they only were thinking about the happiness that had come to our family in the less expected moment, when everything had seemed to go on the wrong way, it had fixed itself, they were ecstatic of knowing that finally I was going to be with Bella forever, that I had formed a family with her and that Renesmee had come to us for making us even happier; even Rosalie was happy. It was hard to not feel happy in this moment, even Emmett was chuckling far away.

Jacob was happy to see that Bella was happy, after all, that had been his goal for a long time, and though it wasn't like he had loved her back at that time, everything had changed now, and that made him happy, too.

Nessie's thoughts were the ones which almost seemed to be mine, while we looked at Bella playing and kicking the remains of the rock. Listening to her laughing and laughing over and over again.

_Mommy is having fun. It's a pretty game._ Renesmee was thinking.

Her smile got wider in such a way that I almost felt dazzled by her. I didn't feel it as something weird. How many times had Bella left me dazzled, how many times had she told me that it was me who dazzled her when I was just that way with her? It was normal that Renesmee's simple smile were dazzling. She was the most beautiful baby in the world, and she was our daughter.

I don't know in which moment Bella's amusement became Renesmee's amusement, too. Like she were the one playing with the rock.

All of a sudden, Renesmee laughed out loud, and immediately, she had all of our looks on her face, glowing with happiness. It was a beautiful image. It was in moments like those, that I couldn't believe that such baby were my daughter, that it was thanks to me and Bella that in this world, and in this moment, I had in my arms such beauty. Of course, I reminded myself, it was Bella's daughter, too.

_Oh my God! She just laughed for the first time._ Esme thought excitedly.

Carlisle, Jasper and Emmett were almost as dumbfounded as everyone else while we looked at Renesmee after she had laughed for the first time.

The sound was so enjoyable that it only made you want to laugh with her, but we were so fascinated with the sound, that were almost mute.

_She looks so much more beautiful when laughing._ Rosalie thought.

Bella turned towards us then, and said, "Did she just laugh?"

"Yes," I told her, my eyes and everyone else's still on her face.

_Like she'd been the only one,_ Jacob thought jokingly.

"Who wasn't laughing?" Jacob said while rolling his eyes.

I surprised myself when I didn't feel any resentment or rage against Jacob in that moment. I had known that it would happen that way since the moment in which I considered what he had done with Charlie as something good and something that I could forget if Bella succeed on keeping Charlie in her life.

It had been so, so there was no reason for hating him. Thought, actually, I had never hated him.

I think Jacob realized the same thing. It was difficult to hate someone like Jacob. He was just a child in so many ways, but that was why I had never been able to hate him either when he loved Bella, too. Deeply, I had never forced Bella to choose between the two of us, because I had had the hope, a very little one that I were not the chosen one, and so Bella could have a normal life. And now I could hate him much less, because there weren't reasons. Not even that he had imprinted on Renesmee. I deeply knew, that it was something _good_. At least Renesmee would be with someone worthy.

"Tell me you didn't let go a bit on your first run, dog," I joked with him, reading and seeing at the same time the answer he was about to give.

_Of course I did, dah! Obvious, isn't it?_

"That's different," Jacob told me, while he punched me on the shoulder mockingly. He, too, knew that there was no more antagonism between us. "Bella's supposed to be a grown-up. Married and a mom and all that. Shouldn't there be more dignity?"

Nessie's forehead wrinkled immediately after she heard Jacob's words. She knew what he meant, and that if there was _dignity_ as Jacob was saying, her mommy wouldn't be enjoying herself and laughing like a moment ago.

She didn't want that, I could see.

She raised her little hand to my cheek, and she showed me what I already knew. _I want less dignity, daddy._

"What does she want?" Bella asked me.

_Yes, tell us what she wants._ I could hear an echo of voices in my head questioning me about what Renesmee wanted.

"Less dignity," I told her with a wide smile. "She was having as much fun watching you enjoy yourself as I was."

I could see how Renesmee was agreeing with what I had just said. She was expecting her mommy to having fun again with the rock and heard her laughing. Bella's image doing that, passed through her mind over and over again.

Bella walked to us. "Am I funny?" she asked her, while she stretched out her hands towards her and Renesmee also raised her hand to Bella for her to take her in her arms. Bella held her in her arms, and then she showed her the piece of rock in her hand, "You want to try?"

Nessie grinned widely, _Yes, I want to have gun with the rock as you, mommy._ She was thinking while she remembered how she'd seen Bella playing with it.

_She's so cute,_ Rosalie thought while looking at her.

Then, Nessie took the rock between her little hands. She squeezed it the way she thought she would destroy it, little wrinkles formed between her eyes, it reminded me of the same wrinkled that appeared between Bella's eyes when she was concentrated on something. That simple resemblance between them, made me even happier. Renesmee was as beautiful as Bella, and more alike than what they thought.

Of course that, Renesmee wasn't as strong as any of us, much less as Bella, so when the rock didn't happen anything at all more than losing a little bit of dust with the few strength that was exerted on it, Renesmee frowned.

_You mommy, you do it._ She thought, while she raised the rock towards Bella for her to do it. It seemed more fun to her that way.

"I'll get it," Bella told her while taking the rock back.

Soon enough the rock was made dust completely, the sound that it made while being crushed into dust made Renesmee remembered the image of a few moments ago. She started laughing and clapping. Without being able to help it when hearing her laughter and seeing her so happy in front of her mom, we all started laughing with her.

I never thought that we would be as lucky as to have such a wonderful creature with us.

And though Bella, at the beginning, had not minded not having any kids with me, I knew that she was so much happier now than what she would've been if Renesmee weren't with us now.

Looking at both of them laughing and enjoying of each other's company, it was when I thanked for having gone through so much pain in the past. Maybe it had only been a big test that the faith was giving us, so then reward us with such little angel. I would go through all of this a thousand times, if the ending was just like it was now. I myself would beg Carlisle to change me and I would wait longingly for Bella to come into my life again. I would all do it again, just for feeling this happiness that was filling me now. Everything had been worth it.

The sun came out from behind his hiding place, the clouds, to shine over for a moment before completely hiding. All my family, Bella, Renesmee and I were bathed in sunlight, and the light shining over us while we were under the sunrays.

Jacob was the only one from the ten of us, of course, that kept normal. But it wasn't anything new to him, he didn't say anything about it.

We all kept staring at Renesmee, and for the first time we saw how her skin reacted to the sun.

It wasn't something that I had considered before, but now I saw it clearly. Her skin didn't shine like ours, it seemed to be something subtle in her white skin, it was something almost imperceptible for humans perhaps. She could be completely normal, she wouldn't need to hide from human's sight. Renesmee was part of them, too. Half human.

Nessie noticed the difference between her skin and ours.

_It shines. Pretty._ Renesmee was thinking, while she caressed Bella's arm skin for a moment and then she put hers besides Bella's, comparing them. She then raised her hand to Bella's face and touched her cheek.

_Why don't I shine like you, mommy?_ Renesmee was wondering, by seeing the difference.

"You're the prettiest," Bella told her.

Mmm, I didn't think I could agree to what Bella had just told her.

_Of course she's the prettiest,_ Jacob thought. And I didn't found it odd for he to think that way.

But, after all, Bella was my angel, and there wasn't anything more beautiful than her. Renesmee was the prettiest baby in the world, but she would always be my daughter.

"I'm not sure I can agree to that," I told her.

In that moment she turned to see me, and for what I saw, it seemed like she was going to tell me something, but instead of doing it she became silent when seeing my face. It was different to the face she had seen two years ago in our meadow with her new eyes.

"_I dazzle you?"_ I remembered that night in Port Angeles with Bella.

"_Frequently."_

I felt dazzled when seeing how every time I had her with me and I saw her smile, when I heard her laughing, every time that her eyes looked deeply into mine...

Jacob put his hand in front of his face, a little _blinded_ by the light that shined from all of us, though it wasn't completely true he couldn't see. "Freaky Bella."

I was so happy, that I could find nothing wrong in Jacob's comment, I knew there was nothing in it that said that he truly considered Bella as a freak. All the contrary, he was almost as impressed as everyone else were of seeing Bella this way.

I would have never imagined it would be this way.

"What an amazing creature she is," I whispered.

I wasn't sure when I would stop getting excited for the fact that Bella had chosen me over any other human, that she had decided to spend her eternity with me. But of course that that answer I knew it, I had always known that I would never stop getting excited about it, I would never stop being happy. Ever. I had all eternity to get happy about having her forever by my side. And she, of having me by her side.

I would love this angel for the rest of my existence. Just thinking about it, made me happier.

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******Alright, hope you liked it. As always! =D Thanks to those readers I can't review back and thank you.**


	28. Chapter 27, TRAVEL PLANS

**Hi, again!**

**Sorry it took me longer than usual to update, but I'd told you already. The next chapter is not anywhere close to be finished, so it'll take me a while to update again, sorry, but don't worry, I'm not giving up on this, not yet. :P**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you've enjoyed the past ones. And, of course, let me know.**

**Thanks to all those amazing words you've told me through your reviews, I really appreciate them, and most of all, thanks to those readers I can't thank back right away.**

**Well, I don't have much to say, but to go read and enjoy!**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

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CHAPTER 27. Travel plans

That first week by my two angels' side was unforgettable. I never thought that my existence were going to be so filled with happiness; but it was. I didn't have much left to be beyond happy, the only thing that at those moments interrupted that it were a complete and full happiness, was the concern over our daughter. Bella and I – like everyone else, too – were so worried about the continuous accelerated growth that we kept seeing in Nessie. It was sometimes hard to remember it, when seeing her so vital and healthy, smiling at us everyone and playing like a completely normal child. It was easy to put aside the worry of her growing up so much faster than she should. After all, she wasn't a normal baby, she was half-human and half-vampire, what could we expect? She was more special than that.

Still, the worry kept itself in me most of the time. On the other side, there were other things that distracted me for whiles.

There were more changes than what we had never expected in our family, not only was it the addition of Bella and Nessie, and Jacob to the already too big of members of the Cullen family, but of the wolves from Jacob's pack, Quil and Embry had quit from Sam's pack in La Push to join Jacob's, after all, they were very close friends and they had regretted _losing_ Jacob during this time. Now they were happy of being with him. Leah and Seth stayed with Jacob without hesitating for an instant, and Leah was filling the occupation of _Beta_ instead of Seth like it had been at the beginning. Pack stuff, as Jacob had explained to Bella once, when she had asked him about the new relationship between them, it was much better than at the beginning.

Seth and Leah's Mother had also joined our family in certain way, she was always coming with Charlie on the days when he visited Nessie and Bella. Sue was Charlie's _moral support_ now, as Jacob had referred of himself once before. All the strange things that happened in our family, they weren't exactly new to Sue, knowing perfectly what we were, on contrary than Charlie. And even if days passed and she kept coming along with Charlie, her thoughts and postures never showed any comfort inside of the vampires' house.

Only Sue and Leah preferred to be away from our family, or the Cullens. They only stayed nearby because of the family from them that stayed by our side. Seth and Jacob, Quil and Embry, and of course, Charlie.

Most of the time, we simply ignored their presence. Everyone except, Bella.

The relationships and bonds of love of our family got intensified since Nessie's birth. Now I could tell that there wasn't anything at all that disturbed our happiness, that disturbed our family with old grudges or bad memories. Rosalie mostly, didn't have any resentment at all against me or Bella as she once had. I could say, that after decades of regretting for this existence that Carlisle had given us, now I didn't regret it, I didn't feel rage towards none of us, I was happy to be part of the Cullens and for it to be this way for the rest of eternity. Emmett was happy to see Rosalie happy, it was the only thing he asked to life, and knowing that Rosalie didn't hate this existence anymore, made him happy. Carlisle and Esme couldn't be happier, either. They had always preferred me over everyone else for a little bit, being I the _prodigal_ son, the first one in the family, the first one of their sons; they were happy that happiness had finally found me, and that besides having Bella, I would have turned into a father, and them in grandparents in the process. Alice and Jasper, like everyone else, were also happy. Alice was ecstatic of seeing that her visions of Bella and me had come to reality finally, that she would have her best friend for eternity as she had always wanted to, and I knew that I too, had always wanted it. Jasper, for everyone's endless surprise, was having now a better relationship with Bella than what we would have never foreseen, not even Alice. Though it was normal, I had always known that Jasper liked Bella, but he had never been able to show it when he was trying to not kill her all the time. His thirsted for her human blood, or in this care Bella's, it couldn't have never been grander than mine, and still, it was me who could kept the desire out of my mind; now, with Bella being an immortal, that had come to an end, and Jasper had the opportunity of getting alone better with her. Which made me glad.

The first weeks were the hardest for Bella, about the constant gift of Jasper over her, perhaps she felt it that way, but in reality it was strange when Jasper used it with her when she was in presence of Charlie and Sue.

The problem wasn't the lack of trust in her, there wasn't even a problem. Jasper simply stayed close from Bella all the time that was possible for him, she was always so happy, that Jasper could not help it. It was like a break. Even when there weren't much negative feelings in our family lately.

Everything was going well in our home, both.

Esme and Alice, with everyone else's help, had finished with Nessie's room that same week. Her bedroom looked more like a princess' bedroom, exactly what she was to all of us. Of course, the one who was the most excited, was Nessie, that had been anxious for her grandma and her aunts to finish soon enough so she wouldn't have to stay behind every night when Bella and I left.

Every day I listened to the way her mind grew up even more. Her thoughts went from being a like a three-month old baby or so to the one of a one-year old girl in just a week time. And still, they never sounded exactly the same way as the ones of a baby, but like the ones of an adult. The change was becoming with the time even more distinguishable, and I thought that the day in which Renesmee started speaking, would not take by surprise. I had been wrong.

Carlisle and I had been upstairs in his office, searching for more information that could help us when it came about Renesmee's growth, legends of some tribes from different parts of the world, we weren't having much luck, when I heard her speaking to Rosalie with her special gift.

She had touched her face, _Where's grandpa Charlie, aunt Rose?_

Rosalie had hesitated for a second, wondering what could she tell her, and when she didn't know what to answer to Nessie, she said, "I don't know, Nessie."

Nessie had frowned her forehead when she heard that, so she decided to speak to Bella.

Anyone, not even Alice, well, much less Alice, would have foreseen that Nessie was going to utter her first words in that moment. We all became very shocked, and that fact, propelled me and Carlisle to search even deeper for something that was related and could help us.

I heard my breathing stopping, when I saw that Nessie was planning on asking Bella where was her grandfather from the place where I was, Bella was on the other side of the room.

Carlisle noticed my reaction and turned to see me, his eyes questioning me.

"Mommy," Nessie said, bringing Bella's attention to her. "where is Grandpa?"

I heard how my entire family's thoughts, and probably Bella's, too, became frozen when having heard Renesmee speaking for the first time.

She had not even been like a normal baby, of course. It hadn't started out with one word in her first time, and babbled several times before succeeding on speaking. Her voice had sounded perfectly even, without hesitation. As if she were already an adult instead of a one-week old baby, of course that her mind was much more developed. Still, even when I had read in her mind that she would, even when I had heard how her mind was already prepared for speaking out loud, how they became more of an adult-like thoughts than a baby's like, I couldn't help freezing, too.

That simple fact, freaked me out terribly. And I could see in everyone else's mind, that they felt exactly the same way. Bella had commented to me how frightened she was about Renesmee's progress in one night after leaving Nessie in her bedroom.

There was no way of foreseeing anything of what Renesmee would do, when Alice couldn't see her future, either. That was another reason for what we got worried as much as for not finding the answer to calm us down. For as much as Carlisle and I researched, it was very little what there was and nothing of it could be verified for ourselves.

I had not told Carlisle that we could go ourselves to make some research, to look for some information that helped us, perhaps in Brazil, hoping that we found anything. But I knew that soon, we would see ourselves forced to get out of America to search for it in person.

One week later, Bella asked me to go out to Seattle or Portland so she would search a library and she'd get a few more new books for reading to Nessie. The fewer books that she had and the not so many that were available in the poor library of Forks and Port Angeles, had already run out and Nessie wanted new stories. I was impressed some times, by how much different she was even from us. Bella loved reading and reading her favorite books, even myself too. But Renesmee didn't like listening to the same story twice, and she didn't like the kids' books with images.

Renesmee's two weeks anniversary was that day, and Bella had telephoned Charlie to tell him that we would be out of town that day, that he could come to visit them the next day. Jacob had complained when I had told him that the only ones who were going was the three of us, Bella and I would take Nessie, too, but at the end he agreed and stayed behind.

From the moment in which Alice and Rosalie had taken Renesmee to her wardrobe while Bella and I had still been in our house, I could see that Nessie knew that there was something more that day than just going to our family's house. She was too much perceptive. Alice and Rose picked up a _special_ change of clothing according to what Nessie told them while they got her dressed up. I could see the smile in Nessie's face, she liked when her aunts dressed her up and brushed her hair. Almost all the time they let her long ringlets falling free down her back, now they had decided to give it a special touch.

In the deep of my mind, it seemed to me exaggerated that they dressed her that way, after all we were just going to a library. Yes, in another city, it was trip, but...

I shook my head, and Bella turned to see me. It surprised me to see that she had decided to wear something more than her usual denim jeans and shirt. Alice would be happy; just like I was that she had chosen the blue color. It would never stop being my favorite on her.

"What is it?" Bella asked me.

I smiled at her. "Nothing, I was just listening to Alice and Rose." I told her while I caressed her cheek and took my hands towards her shoulders. Her breathing stopped, but I just wanted to make a comment about her choice of clothes. "It seems that they're not the only ones on having chosen something special for this trip."

Alice heard, and I could listen to the smile in her thoughts. _It's the first time that you three go out together, Edward. As a family. Even Nessie understands, she's excited._

If she put it that way, it was true. I ignored her, anyway.

Bella rolled her eyes. "I have to use something else now and then, don't you think?"

"Aha," I told her, while I leaned down towards her to give her a quick peck, that turned into something longer as soon as our lips met.

I stepped away, sooner than what I would have wanted to, when I heard that Alice and Rose were done with Nessie.

I took her hand and pointed at the door to her. We walked out of our room to get into Nessie's bedroom. Alice and Rosalie turned their looks towards us as soon as we opened the door and walked through to them.

Nessie grinned hugely while we walked closer. As soon as we got to her side, she put her hand on Bella's cheek, knowing that I could also hear to what she was asking to Bella, and listening in her tone that the question was directed to both of us, we smiled.

_Do you like my dress, mommy?_ Nessie asked Bella, her eyes were dancing from her to me, waiting for our response.

"It's beautiful," Bella assured her with a smile, placing a soft peck on her cheek.

Nessie smiled again, and her look turned to me. "It's very pretty, Nessie," I told her, while I saw from the corner of y eyes to Bella frowning very lightly, and then smoothed it out. She still didn't like that we called her that way, but she rarely bothered on complaining out loud. "But you're prettier," I finished telling her, smiling.

Nessie smiled again, satisfied with our answers.

Alice, who had been watching what Bella had chosen for her outfit, decided to show her joy with the outfit she was wearing.

"I'm glad you're learning to use your wardrobe, Bella," Bella had only rolled her eyes.

After that, she took Nessie in her arms and we walked towards the front door to get out. Alice and Rosalie were right behind us. We came back to the house in less than two seconds. Carlisle and Esme said goodbye to us quietly while we climbed up into my Volvo so we would get out towards Seattle. Alice had assured us that there would be no problem with the weather, that the sun would keep hidden. Jacob had said goodbye to Renesmee with the glum expression for having to stay behind. Renesmee had asked me, knowing it was me who had the more trouble when I saw her in Jacob's arms, why he couldn't come.

Bella was waiting with a smile on her face, for me to explain to Nessie the reason why Jacob wasn't coming with us, knowing that my reasons weren't so easy to explain.

I only told her, "Jacob's got something things to do here," as soon as I said that, Jacob snorted, but didn't say anything, remembering the reason why I had asked him to not come with us. Nessie looked between my face and his curiously, but didn't say anything about it and just nodded. Resigned.

We drove out quickly towards the highway. Bella kept Nessie in her lap, with one of her hands intertwined with mine.

Nessie was delighted, her eyes rarely got distracted from the view that quickly passed by on both sides while I drove to Seattle. The view wasn't very different to what she saw every day on our surroundings, but bit by bit it changed a little. We would then get to our destination.

The trip was quiet and short with the speed I was driving at. Nessie never complained about it; neither did Bella. I smiled to myself while I remembered the many times that Bella had complained about the speed I usually drove. Bella and I interchanged a few words. The two of us were comfortable by just watching Nessie, and the way her excitement grew. Her eyes shined with anticipations every time that she turned to see us, several times she asked Bella, without asking out loud, if we were about to arrive. Being almost in the city already, Nessie asked again, and when Bella told her that at any moment we would see the city, Nessie's smile and her eyes shined with excitement.

Bella and I smiled too, every time she did.

We were soon in Seattle, and Renesmee was delighted with what she was seeing, but what she liked the most, was that she was with us. Not very often did the image of Jacob pass through her mind. She was happy of being with her parents.

We walked into the library, and Bella handed me Renesmee, while she searched for some titles she thought Nessie might be interested in.

I walked back, with Nessie in my arms, to the front of the library. The two of us were looking at the people passing by and the different movement that the city offered. Several times, Nessie smiled and her hand fluttered towards the people passing by, especially when she saw – rarely – a family walking by. Her hand went immediately to my cheek, and she showed me an image of the three of us walking down the streets of the city.

"Do you like it?" I asked her while I sweetly caressed her cheek.

Nessie smiled widely at me, she nodded happily, and took her hand to my cheek. _I like it a lot, daddy._

"Good. We'll take you for a walk as soon as your mommy buys your books." I told her, and Nessie answered me with another dazzling smile.

I had not been very intent on the thoughts that swirled around me, when I listened to the thoughts of the person who was in charge of the library, and to my bad luck, she was a woman, a young one. She had been staring at me since we had crossed the door, thinking that Bella might be my _sister_, or trying to convince herself that she was, she wanted to believe that I was a single man.

I sighed, and Nessie turned to see me curiously.

"It's nothing, Nessie," I told her with a little smile, and she returned her attention to the people walking by.

The young woman, I couldn't see her name in her mind, was just wondering which way would it be the best way to approach us and get me talking.

I saw it before she did it, and I turned around towards her slightly before she touched me.

"Do you need something?" I asked her serious. No smile.

I knew for experience that my smile didn't have the desired effect since I was with Bella. It didn't scared people away, it _dazzled_ them, like Bella had accused me of.

_Uh, how serious..._

"I was wondering if this beautiful baby," she told me while she smiled at Renesmee that had turned to see her when she heard the young lady. "is yours?"

Though she wanted to believe that I wasn't the father, thinking of stupid excused for not believing it, wishing I was available. "That's right. She's my daughter."

Immediately, her thoughts filled with disappointment when she listened to the truth she already knew.

"Hmm," she whispered, her eyes didn't for more than three seconds in my look. "Are you... single father?" _say yes, say yes, please._

Bella heard the few words that we had exchanged and she got upset quickly when she listened to the young lady asking if I was single, when I had already told her that Renesmee was my daughter. It hadn't been half a second, I still didn't answer to the insistent lady, when I heard Bella walking to us, at a _human_ pace.

Bella interrupted me when I was about to make clear to the young lady that I _was_ married. I put her arms around my waist and she kissed me on the tip of my mouth. "No; he's married." She told her, on the surface her voice was gentle, but there was a tone of threat.

Before Bella could lose her control, I pulled her towards the hallway. "Did you find what you were looking for?" I asked her while we walked away.

Bella nodded, and took the book she had left on a table that was close to us in her hands, then she handed them to me, and took Renesmee in her arms. "You pay them. Maybe she'll give you a discount." She said to me a bit annoyed, and perhaps – if I wasn't wrong – a bit jealous.

I smiled at her, and kissed her quickly on her lips, then I place a soft kiss on Nessie's forehead, and walked towards paying the books the soonest possible, to leave once and for all.

"_You're quite adorable when you're jealous. It's surprisingly enjoyable."_ It passed through my mind the memory of that night, when Bella had asked me about Tanya and the interest she had shown for me according to what Rosalie had told her.

The number of books gave a sum not so low for the taste of some people. I had thought about giving her my credit card and then decided to go for cash. Perhaps the change with which she would keep would make her feel better.

_Fifty dollars of change? He's rich, of course. Why does he have to be married and with a daughter? Though the girl's quite pretty..._

I could not believe, that they were considering Bella now _pretty_ and they hadn't done so when her beauty had been natural when being human. The humans were blinded. But deeply, it made me feel better to hear that everyone saw Bella as beautiful, there was no thought around me that could tell that Bella didn't deserve to be by my side. Not that I cared about what everyone else thought. Bella would always be the most perfect woman in the world.

We went out of the library, almost hurriedly while Bella hurried us out. Renesmee was only confused about the hurry that she saw now her mom had all of a sudden, but didn't say anything about it.

Bella decided to rush our return to home. We were only taking a walk through the park a little bit, a request from Nessie. We had walked by the place, and she had seen how all the families were smiling and laughing and playing with their kids, and she almost demanded to us to do it, too. We weren't there too long. Bella sat on a bench, while I took Renesmee to the swingers. All the eyes turned towards us every time they heard Nessie laughing. Bella took a few pictures of us, that was a request of Alice and Rosalie, of course. After a while later, Nessie began yawning lightly, she fluttered her hands towards Bella, that was in front of us. I stopped the swinger and took her in my arms.

"What is it, Nessie?"

Renesmee raised her hand to my face, and she showed me an image of her in my arms, asleep.

"I understand. You're tired. Do you want to go back home?"

She nodded tiredly, and the echo of her answer sounded in my head while she fell quickly asleep in my arms. _Yes, daddy. I want to go home…_

Bella moved to my side, and she place a soft kiss on Renesmee´s cheek. "Are we leaving?" her tone and her expression seemed to tell me that she had already forgotten about the young lady from the library, and I was glad. She didn't have any reason to be upset about.

We returned to my Volvo in a few minutes, and Bella took Renesmee in her arms so she would let me drive, or rather to let Nessie not having anything to upset her. I wouldn't have any trouble driving with her.

Nor Bella nor I mentioned the library issue again.

We interchanged several words about the books she had bought to Nessie, and the ones she would start reading to her this same night; she showed me some of the pictured she had taken while we had been in the park the three of us; how _normal_ it felt to have done this trip just the three of us, like a family, and how much she liked it.

Sooner than what I would have wanted, we were back to Forks.

Rose and Jacob were waiting for us outside of the house since they had heard the tires of the car touching the wet path. The two of them were too much anxious to see Renesmee as to wait inside of the house with the rest of the family.

As soon as I killed the engine off, Renesmee stretched out in Bella´s arms, she blinked quickly a few times and she opened them.

_Where are we? Home?_ Nessie asked Bella when putting her hand on her face.

Bella smiled at her, and told her, "That's right, we've arrived." Just in that moment, Jacob opened the passenger door, anxious to see Renesmee again. Bella handed her to him, and we climbed out of the car. The five of us walked into the house, and after telling everyone how the trip had been, leaving out the little incident with the librarian, Bella showed them the pictures she had taken, too. Everyone admired the beauty of Renesmee, and the smile she kept in all of the pictures she appeared in. Esme chose several pictures where the three of us appeared together so she would send to get in a photo frame for each one of our houses. When the sun hid, and Renesmee told us that she was already tired again, we said our goodbyes and left out towards our home.

Bella placed Renesmee in her crib, and then she gave us both a kiss and took all the books she'd bought, except one, to the little library.

The pajama Renesmee would wear tonight was on top of a table that they used to get Renesmee dressed, I took it and came back to her. Renesmee smiled when I took her in my arms again, and then sat her in my lap to get all those hairpins Alice and Rosalie had put on her hair to get her combed, her ringlets fell down freely on her back – Renesmee sighed – and then I comb it with a brush gently. When I heard Renesmee yawning, I left aside the comb and got her on her pajama. Bella was still not back, so I cradled her in my arms and started humming her lullaby. Soon, Renesmee was asleep in my arms, her dreams were a mixture of colors and mine and Bella´s faces from this day.

I didn't notice that Bella was standing on the door until I heard sighing happily, I turned to see her with Renesmee still in my arms and Bella smiled.

"I think we won't be needing this tonight, right?" she told me while she raised the book she had chosen to read to Renesmee.

"I think now," I answered her with a smile. Then she walked to me, wrapped her arms around my waist, and sighed again. We were like that for a long while.

Renesmee´s dreams started to turn more general, my family´s faces slowly appearing now and then. Bella´s face was still present, and then Jacob´s was there mixed in. I tried very hard on not letting that get to me, and decided it was time of leaving her in her bedroom so she would sleep quietly. I stopped humming her lullaby, and Bella turned to see me questioningly.

I raised an eyebrow, and told her. "Do you want to stay _here_ all night?"

Bella immediately knew what I was talking about, and she smiled seductively. "I think not," she told me smiling, repeating the same line I had used a moment ago.

Bella dropped her arms from around my waist so I would lay down Renesmee on her crib and we'd leave to our room.

There was just one more thing I could ask life for… more hours during the night.

The days passed normally, as normally as they could. Renesmee kept growing up, though the rate was diminishing, very little, but that little made us feel better, not much, nor enough as to make us forget about that matter.

In the next two weeks, Carlisle and I were dedicated strictly, on searching information that could help us with Renesmee, but everything was running out, and we weren't finding anything that could be useful. Maybe, in Brazil, but we yet didn't have any plan done. Bella had asked me to wait, for at least a while, until the Holidays passed, so we would hang out with Charlie.

Bella, Jacob and Rosalie spent the most of their time by Renesmee´s side during the day. Emmett and Jasper helped us now and then with the researching. Esme and Alice dedicated their time on looking for places where we could stay while we were traveling, because Renesmee needed a place where to sleep and rest unlike us.

A little while after she had reached her first month, Renesmee gave her first steps. It was more than giving her first steps, she had walked for the first time without anyone's help.

Bella had asked me to stay with her that morning instead of going upstairs to Carlisle´s office to keep searching, and I had accepted gladly. We were with Renesmee when Jacob arrived, he had been circling around the perimeter because of Leah´s request. The three of us had been sitting on the couch, watching Renesmee playing. After a moment, Alice had come into the room with several bouquets to replace the _old_ ones from the vases around the room.

_Time for new flowers…_ Alice was thinking while she started replacing.

Alice had Renesmee´s attention immediately. In her mind, an image of herself walking the same way her aunt Alice was.

No one noticed how I had gotten anxious when I saw what Renesmee was thinking and wanted to do. Bella had her hand intertwined in mine, and I tried to not squeeze it while I saw what was happening and probably would happen in a few minutes.

_Can I walk like my aunt Alice?_ Renesmee was wondering.

After several minutes of watching Alice, Renesmee got on her feet, she didn't even hesitate, like if it'd been something more than normal, like if it hadn't been the first time that she walked by herself.

Jacob immediately reacted. _What's she doing? She gonna walk? Please! She's only, what? A month-old..._

Still, Jacob had started out applauding as soon as Renesmee had crossed the room. Her face had turned towards us with a wide smile, waiting for us to start clapping as Jacob was. The image was very clear in her mind, it was what she wanted.

Jacob was the first one in doing it, knowing that that was what she wanted us to do somehow. Bella and I applauded, too.

It worried me excessively the future of Renesme every passing day, but it was _turned off_ or shut every time that I saw her so healthy and happy.

Renesmee seemed to have a very normal life, except for all the weird stuff that weren't commonly found in _normal_ children. Her taste for the book was outstanding, I considered that little characteristic she got it from Bella. Slowly, Renesmee had started reading for herself the books, thought she always preferred that Bella red to her before going to sleep. One night I heard her asking Bella to hand her the book so she read it herself.

" '_There is sweet music here, that softer falls than petals from blown roses on the grass, or night-dews on still waters between walls of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass—' "_ Renesmee had read without hesitation at all, not even once.

I had been as much in shock as Bella had those first weeks when her voice had filled up the silence. It wasn't anything alike at all to the voice a child of, maybe eight of nine months old.

One week before Renesmee had turned to three-month-old, Bella and Renesmee had been talking and smiling together, just that Renesmee preferred to use her unique gift instead of speaking out loud, in meanwhile Carlisle and I had been discussing some options for stopping Renesmee's premature and accelerated growth that she kept showing.

We had taken the chance that Jacob wasn't anywhere near us or the house for being able to hear what we were talking about, only everyone else could. Bella could, but every time we named the possibilities, I saw her cringing a bit.

She didn't like the idea.

Nor Carlisle nor I found the option very reliable. We didn't know how Renesmee's system would react to vampire's venom. Yes, it was a sure way to halt aging for the humans, but Renesmee wasn't human entirely. What would happen, then? I did not want to imagine that she were going to be mortal in her case, when what we were looking for was to keep her for the eternity with us. So we never dared of thinking in proving it. None of us wanted to take any risks, much less with my daughter's life. The idea or the option was there, but almost hidden away. In case of emergency...

That same week, Bella told us what she was planning. She wanted to go to Italy to see the Volturi so they would prove for themselves that we had fulfilled the promise of changing her to a vampire. Alice had seen that Caius would send Jane and Alec to make sure that Bella were an immortal now. We hadn't known so until a little while ago. Alice hadn't said anything, she hadn't even remembered the gift that Aro had sent as a wedding present, expecting to be able to soon see Bella, Mrs. Cullen.

Two days before Renesmee had turned three-month-old, Bella brought up a subject I would have rather never came up, especially in the way that Bella was thinking on doing it.

"Tomorrow I'm buying the ticket to go to Volterra." Bella announced after a few minutes. Her voice sounded hesitant while she looked at me, she was completely conscious that that wasn't something I was going to agree to her doing it.

I shook my head, my forehead frowning. "What? No!"

"Edward..."

"No, Bella. You are not going anywhere without me. Much less to Volterra." I told her through my teeth.

"I have to do-"

"You don't have to. It's not true." I interrupted her before she continued with that insane plane.

Renesmee was asleep in Jacob's arms, which was something good, I didn't want her to listen to us arguing.

"You can't come with me, Edward. Nobody can." Bella insisted.

Jacob narrowed her eyes at her when he understood what Bella meant, what our argument was about. He had been a little bit distracted when he'd heard us arguing, we had never done so. Not since Bella had become an immortal.

_What are they talking about?_ Jacob wondered, but I didn't have time for answering him.

"You are not going alone to see the Volturi, Bella. It's my final word." I said to her with a decided tone. Bella frowned, she didn't like given _orders_ to. Which they weren't, but if in this occasion they had to be for preventing Bella to do that, they would.

Carlisle and Esme walked downstairs right then, with Alice behind them. Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett were outside, hunting.

"What's wrong, son?" Esme asked, worried about our interchange.

Bella decided to explain it herself. "I was just _letting_" Bella emphasized the word and she looked at me with her forehead frowning, her tones was telling me that she wasn't asking me any permission. "Edward know that I'm traveling to Volterra, that way the Volturi will know I'm an immortal now and they won't have to come here."

_Well, Edward, if she puts it that way..._ Carlisle was thinking.

"You're not going alone," I told her through my teeth, my hands were fist-shaped while I saw how my family were starting to support Bella's plan. Luckily, everyone except for Jacob.

"They won't hurt me," Bella said to me, her voice sounded calm. "They have no reason to. I'm a vampire. Case closed."

If she thought that would convince me... "No. Absolutely no."

"Edward, it's the only way to protect her." Bella had told me.

I didn't answer anything for a few seconds. Thinking in how rightness those words had, and Bella knew it. Still, I couldn't conceive the idea of having Bella in front of all those vampires alone. No, I couldn't allow it.

"There must be another way..." I said, trying to find another way.

"There's not. I'm the only one who Aro can't get a read on my mind. I'm not going to allow him to see Renesmee. What do you think he'll do when he finds out of her existence?" Bella argued back, and she was right.

_Bella's right, Edward._ Carlisle and Esme supported.

"No, Bella. Edward's right, you know. Those vampires are dangerous, according to what I know. How can you think of going alone?"

"Listen-" Bella turned to see me, and she changed what she was going to tell me. "Edward, you better than anyone else knows that Aro is a collector, if you want to call him that way. The only thing he wants to find if beauty, talent and rarity for his collection. It's already too bad that he covets yours and Alice's gift, do you want him to take us Renesmee away? If you come, or someone else comes with me, Aro will find out about her existence. It's got to be an alone trip."

"Alice?" I called out to her, knowing Alice would know what I wanted.

_Give me a moment..._ she thought while she concentrated on the future. And what she saw, I didn't like at all.

"I see no trouble," she said, while she saw that I was about to interrupt when I had just seen for myself how her visions weren't concrete. She raised one of her hands to prevent me from speaking. "It only worries me a _bit_ that I don't see well how this will turn out."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked, a little worried, too.

"It's nothing to be alarmed about. It sometimes happens when there's outside decisions that couldn't be agreeing to what I see because they hadn't been solidly resolved and-"

"You're not going alone. You won't, Bella."

"But, Edward-"

"I'm not allowing any risk to you. Do you think I could let you go alone? I'll go with you."

"But-"

"I'm not finished. At least as far as London, Bella. I need to be close." I finished telling her.

Bella's forehead wrinkled again, and she shook her head. I was expecting her reaction. "I'm not leaving Renesmee without both her parents. You have to stay with her, Edward."

Carlisle saw another option, and it wasn't that bad. "I can go with you, Bella. I'll be in London. Just a few hours away in case you would need me." He turned to see me, and I could see how my face had relaxed a little bit. "What do you think, son?"

"I can... handle... that. Yes, it's alright." I told him, sighing with relief. At least Bella would have Carlisle close from her.

"Fine. I agree to that." Bella nodded.

"Are you allowing it, Edward? You shouldn't let her go alone," Jacob added, a bit upset.

"I'm not quite content, Jacob. But it's to protect Renesmee. In that point, I can't argue with Bella. Neither can you."

Jacob had snorted, upset, but accepting on the same way I had that Bella went alone. He left Renesmee with me, she was now awake for the last few seconds, and he walked out of there mad, he went to the kitchen to look something to eat. Renesmee had been very serious since she had opened her eyes, she sat on my lap. She then put her little hand on my cheek to show me what she wanted, I smiled before it appeared in my mind.

I took her in my arms, and walked us to the piano to play her lullaby.

I sat on the bench, and when I was going to place Renesmee by my side, she held onto my arms and put her hand again on my face, showing me a new image of her still on my lap while I played for her lullaby. I smiled at her, and did what she asked me to.

I started playing her lullaby, and Renesmee smiled slightly.

I could listen to the thoughts of our family, except for Bella, of course.

Renesmee fluttered her fingers towards the keys of the piano, being careful of not touching them so she wouldn't interrupt the music flowing through the room.

_She may be a musician, just like her father._ Esme thought gleefully.

Bella came to us, silently, to take a sit by our side. Renesmee turned to see her and smiled at her. The tense atmosphere from a moment ago, was totally vanished while we heard to the quiet and musical laughter of Renesmee while I played.

When the music stopped, Renesmee pouted, and she reminded me so much of Bella, though Bella's pouts were for a completely different reason. I smiled at her.

"What is it, Nessie?"

Her hand rested on my cheek, _I want more, daddy. Play more..._

"Whatever you want," I said to her, with another smile. Renesmee hadn't listened to the lullaby I had composed for Bella, so I decided it was the piece that should follow now.

The melody stared, and I heard Bella held her breathing as soon as the first note filled the silence of the room. I could almost hear the tears falling down her cheeks as if she still were human, reacting the same way than the first time, how she had reacted when she'd heard her lullaby on the record I had made for her in her birthday...

Renesmee turned to see Bella, too, when she heard that her breathing had stopped, her eyes were questioning Bella's reaction, and her thoughts.

"This is Bella's lullaby, Nessie." I explained to her.

Renesmee smiled and raised her hand to Bella. _Do you like it, mommy?_

Bella breathed again, and she caressed Renesmee's cheek, before turning to me. "I adore it," she said to Renesmee. "Thank you," she finished, and I knew she had talked to me.

I turned to see her, and I kissed her. "You're welcome, love."

Bella noticed before I did, that Renesmee was starting to close her eyes and forcing them to open before I noticed it, without touching or interrupting the music, she took Renesmee from my lap into her arms, and she sat by my side again. Renesmee cradled in Bella's arms, and so soon, she was asleep.

The day that Nessie had turned three-month-old, we had decided to take her to our meadow. I had commented the idea to Bella the night before, and she had agreed, and she had even been a little bit excited about our daughter getting to know our meadow. In one thing we agreed, Renesmee would love it. Again, we asked Jacob to let us go alone, we wanted to make this a family trip. Charlie had asked us to take Renesmee to his house, he had her a little family party prepared to celebrate her third month of life, he had done the same thing every month, so Jacob decided to wait for us there.

It had almost been a snap decision from my part. I hadn't commented any of this to Bella because I hadn't thought about it until the day before, when Jacob had asked us, almost begged and implored for us to allow Renesmee to go with him to La Push. Without us.

Of course, I refused.

"C'mon, Edward! What's the problem? Nessie doesn't know the beach. It seems like a good idea to me." Jacob had insisted, while through his mind passed ideas of how to make the better day of Renesmee in La Push with him. Taking her to a walk by the beach, making sand castles, showing her how the fire reacted to the salt water...

They weren't things that would bother me that Renesmee knew, but it was absolutely impossible that I was going to consent him to take her with him.

"Of course not, Jacob. You are not going anywhere with my daughter."

Renesmee looked at us with her eyes wide, surprised of my reaction.

Bella turned to see me, and her eyes were begging me for something, I didn't know at first, if it was for me to give my permission or for not giving it.

"Bella, c'mon, tell Edward you already agreed to this."

"What?" I turned to see her, my voice, unconsciously came out as a growl.

"Hey, hey, wait. I didn't say that-"

Jacob interrupted her. "You did."

"Exactly." Bella ended. "Just that it might be a good idea."

"It's not. I completely refuse to this. Renesmee is barely turning three-month-old, and she doesn't have the age for going out with you, period."

"But-" Jacob tried to say.

"But nothing. It's my last word, Jacob." My tone had been resolute, that there was no way of arguing with me. Not even Renesmee, much less Bella.

The next morning, Bella and I had had an argument over the option of going on foot or taking Renesmee the normal way to our meadow.

At the end, we decided we would take her in the Volvo, and we would walk toward our meadow as we had done the first time two years ago. Renesmee was enthusiastic about the idea of going out again in the companion of her parents only, she always liked being with just the two of us, so it was often just the three of us who went hunting together, Jacob came with us to get Renesmee to hunt animals with more feeling.

Bella dressed her up this time. She chose a dress to the level of her knees, light given the day promised to be hot and with the sun in its highest point, as high as it could in Forks. She picked her hair up in a ponytail, and got her on sport shoes. I smiled a bit at the combination that Bella had made, somehow, the dress looked as perfect with the sport shoes as it would have with light shoes. And Renesmee looked beautiful with anything.

We walked out of the house towards the garage to get in the Volvo. The entire family was outside, they had decided to go hunting. Jacob, surely, was in La Push yet, or around there with Leah, Seth and the other wolves. Though I could hear them anywhere close by.

Bella and Renesmee climbed in the Volvo at the same time I did. Again, Bella kept her hand intertwined with mine, and most of the time we spent staring at Renesmee smiling while I drove away from the house, and the off Forks limits.

This time, Bella didn't complaint about the speed I was driving at without even looking at the road.

We soon got to the place where we had two years ago. The road was in front of us with the same wood sign. The differences were simple, instead of driving her old Chevy, I was driving my Volvo; and we weren't just the two of us, now there was a third one that we would have never imagined there would, Renesmee, of course.

Bella put Renesmee on the ground, and we got out of the car.

Immediately, and almost surprising us, if it hadn't been because I saw it in her mind before she did it, Renesmee jumped up out of excitement, and she turned to see excitedly. She was by Bella's side in that moment, my arm wrapped around her waist, smiling at her, when Renesmee jumped into Bella's arms and then she put her hand on my cheek.

_Is this the place we're visiting?_ She told me excited.

I shook my head, smiling yet. "No. But it's very close." I told her, and I caressed her cheek. "You are going to love it, you'll see."

Bella nodded, and smiled at her. "It won't take us too long to get there. Don't get impatient, Renesmee."

Renesmee nodded, even more excited now than before.

"Do you want me to hold you or you want to walk?" Bella asked her.

Renesmee smiled again, and she put her hand on Bella's cheek an image of her walking hold both our hands. Bella nodded, grinning and set her on her feet, then we each took one of her hands.

We walked into the woods through the same path Bella and I had used in our first trip to our meadow, maybe Bella wouldn't even recognize that she was walking through the same place she had two years ago. Renesmee forced us to walk faster than normal, anxious to get to wherever we were planning on taking her that day, her sense of orientation was so much better than a human's and her footsteps didn't stray from its path, she was always going on a straight line. I led her towards the road that would take us to the meadow several times, correcting her way. After a few hours, a third maybe, of what it had taken Bella and I to get there, I could see the glow ahead of us.

Before I could see anything, Bella said, "Everything's just the way I remember it. I think." She then said, hesitating. Knowing that maybe not everything was just the way it had been two years ago.

I turned to see her and smiled at her. "The essential is just like you remember," I said to her, and to my surprise, we were about to walk across a fallen trunk, just one of the several trunks Bella hadn't been able to walk across. "I helped you with that trunk," I told her, I wasn't capable of completely hiding my surprise.

Bella smiled, and slowly shook her head. "You surely miss the reaction that would have followed to your help, do you?"

Renesmee turned to see us, curiously. "A little." I told her honestly. That little detail couldn't make me feel sad, when I was walking by my angels' side.

After a few minutes, we reached the place in which Bella had made her impatience being heard when we didn't get to the place. In my mind passed the memory.

"Are we there yet?" Bella had asked me, jokingly, her good mood improving.

I smiled at her, and said. "Nearly. Do you see the brightness ahead?"

"Um, should I?"

"Maybe it's a bit soon for _your_ eyes?"

"Time to visit the optometrist." Bella joked.

"Do you remember this place?" I asked Bella.

She turned to see me, and shook her head, an eyebrow raised. "Time to visit the optometrist." I joked with her while I waited for her to remember.

Bella smiled, and turned her look towards the front. "Now I do see it," she told me excitedly.

Renesmee was only half paying her attention to us, her eyes could already see the different brightness ahead of us, and she was starting to quicken her pace. A few meters ahead, she shook her hands so we would release them and let her walk alone, and in less than a minute, she was on the edge of the meadow. I could see through her eyes how delighted she felt by seeing the little place. Slowly, she walked through the edge of the meadow and walked into it. Bella and I were by her side in another second.

"What do you think, Renesmee?" Bella asked her, a little impatient.

The meadow was in its highest magnificence, I had never seen it that way before. I could almost assure that it was absorbing the happiness I was feeling, and for that same reason it couldn't be more beautiful than it was now. Renesmee looked the meadow over again and jumped toward to the flowers surrounding it.

Bella turned to me, searching for an answer. "She loves it, love."

We both smiled while we saw Renesmee playing amongst the flowers, and we then went to sit right in the center of the meadow.

After several minutes of watching and listening to Renesmee laughing, and jumping on the grass that covered the meadow, she started to pull up some flowers. Of all the sizes she could find, but I could see that she was being careful of not pulling up so many flowers that the meadow would be left clean out. I smiled.

When she was done, she came to us walking and with a dazzling smile in her face. When she was enough close of us, she raised her hands with the bouquet of flowers she had done and then offered it to us. Bella took it, she sniffed at the smell that the flowers offered gently and then raised her eyes to Renesmee smiling.

"Do you like it?"

Renesmee nodded, and she came even closer to us so she would rest her hand on Bella´s cheek. _It´s beautiful, you should've brought me before._

It was I who answered to her. "I wanted you to know it when you could walk already. Isn't it better this way?"

Renesmee understood what I meant, imagining how would it have been if she would have had to be sitting or on our arms the entire time, she made a face and nodded.

Bella growled lightly, while she shook her head. "What is it, Bella?"

"Agh. It's just that I left my bag in your Volvo, and in it the camera. Alice, obviously, asked me to take some pictures of us on this trip, too," she turned to see us both, and then spoke again. "Would you be alright if I leave you alone for a moment?"

I smiled at her, "Of course. We'll wait for you here," I told her, and then kissed her.

I heard her leaving then, but her footsteps weren't as fast as they would normally. It seemed like she was going more slowly on purpose.

I stood up and took Renesmee in my arms, she took her hand to my cheek and smiled. _This place is beautiful, daddy. Thank you. When are we coming back?_

"We can come as many times as you want, Nessie. I promise." I assured to her, kissing one of her cheeks.

She smiled again, and asked me, _can we bring Jacob?_

I tried not to grimace at her question, because though it didn't bother me so much anymore that Jacob were imprinted on Renesmee, I still didn't like the fact of having to share everything with him. Especially the moments I had with my daughter. Still, what I wouldn't give her? I had the same trouble with her, that the one I had with Bella. I couldn't deny anything to them.

"Of course he can. If that's what you want, my command," Renesmee smiled again.

Surprising me, Renesmee touched my cheek, and I saw her phrase repeated. _I love you so much, daddy._ She told me with the most dazzling smile I had ever seen.

I smiled at her, and told her while I kissed her forehead, "Like I love you, Nessie." I tightly hugged her, and then we heard the sound of a click.

Bella.

We both turned to see Bella grinning hugely with the camera on her hands standing at the edge of the meadow.

She walked to us. "Alice wouldn't have forgiven me if I didn't capture this moment," she told me jokingly and seriously at the same time.

I considered it for a second, and then sighed. "True."

Renesmee raised her hands towards Bella, but before she showed me what she wanted. A photo with Bella, too. Bella took her in her arms, and Renesmee turned towards me again.

"She wants a picture with you," I explained to her.

Bella smiled, and the two of them turned to see each other with a wide smile on their faces. It wasn't the image Renesmee had showed to me, but it was so beautiful, that I captured it. They both turned to see me surprised, and Renesmee frowned, she fluttered her little hand to me so I would lean over.

I shook my head, and told her, smiling, "I know, I know. That wasn't the picture you wanted."

The two of them smiled at me, and the click filled the silence surrounding us again. Bella, without saying any words to me, moved to my side and wrapped one of her arms around my waist, she smiled at me, and I knew what she wanted, just like Renesmee. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, and took another picture of the three of us.

"Enough pictures," I told them while I put the camera away in my pocket's shirt.

"You sound like Charlie," Bella told me laughing. I ignored her joke and hugged her.

Renesmee went to play again in the flowers, searching for the prettiest ones. Bella and I sat together on the grass once again, her arms were wrapped around my waist and her head was laid down on my chest while my arms were wrapped around her, too. Repeatedly, Renesmee would turn to see us and smiled hugely every time she saw us. This wasn't anything alike to what I once believed to be my happiness and the peace I so much longed for, but it was definitely a thousand times much better.

After a long while, Renesmee returned to us. There was no more smile in her face, only tiredness. She stretched her arms toward Bella, and in her mind there was an image of the three of us, she was lying over across Bella, asleep.

Bella tried to get up, but I whispered to her in the ear to not do it, her forehead wrinkled, but did as I asked her. Renesmee came to her side, and she sat next to Bella, then she put her head down on her and lay down over the grass. Her eyes started blinking tiredly, and then they closed to stay that way. Her dreams started out soon. Bella was only combing her hair while the two of us watched her sleeping.

After a few minutes, she turned to see me, and said, "Do you think we should leave?"

It seemed like Renesmee wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, no at least for a long while, so I nodded. "Yes, she's tired. Let's take her home."

Bella took safely Renesmee in her arms before getting on her feet, and then we walked as quickly as we could as to not bother Renesmee's dream, that she didn't even seem to notice the air gently blowing over her face and made her hair swing from one side to the other. Even without running, we reached the Volvo in a short time. And back to the house in another.

Our family was still not in the house when we got there and left the Volvo in the garage, only the wolves were close by. Jacob – that couldn't have waited in Charlie's house – phased back to human as soon as he heard us coming to the house and walked to us in the garage. When he saw that Renesmee was asleep, he only placed a kiss on her forehead and reminded us, though we had not forgotten, about our plans of going to Charlie's, Bella was already carrying another change of clothes for Renesmee. The four of us took off to Charlie's finally for celebrating my Renesmee´s third month since her birth.

Days later, I decided that it was time to plan with all details we needed to – as much as we could, too – the trip to Rio. I asked Bella to take Renesmee hunting without me, given we went together almost all the time, and leave with Jacob, as it was usual, too. She accepted not very happily, knowing that we wanted Jacob to not be in the house, and so he wouldn't listen to this conversation. We had decided that Jacob couldn't come with us, and talking about it in front of him, would only upset him or he would start arguments with him about insisting on coming at all cost.

It wasn't as if it bothered me his presence, it had been a while since I had gotten over having Jacob imprinted on my only daughter, but I didn't think it convenient for him to come with us, he had obligations here in Forks and in La Push, mostly. But I too know that neither he nor Renesmee would like a separation, for as shorter as it were.

The three of them went out of the house, I walked them to the back door.

Renesmee turned to me, and put her little hand on my cheek, _You're not coming with us, daddy?_

"No, Nessie. You're going only with your mom and Jacob."

She didn't like much the answer, I smiled when her forehead wrinkled. _Why?_

"Your grandpa wants me to help him doing some things, daughter. I'll go with you another day, seems fine to you?"

Her mouth made a pout, _No, but if grandpa Carlisle needs you… it's okay._

I smiled at her again, and kissed her on her forehead. "See you soon."

Bella shook her head, and the same pout I had seen in Renesmee, was now in her face. "I'll see you soon, love. Take care."

Bella nodded, and leaned over to kiss me. "We'll be right back."

I waved them goodbye until they disappeared into the woods.

I walked back into the house as soon as they were out of my reach, when I could no longer read Renesmee's or Jacob's minds, I turned to Carlisle who was waiting for me in the couch.

"Son, are you sure that Jacob shouldn't know or at least participate in this conversation?" Carlisle asked me when I sat down in front of him.

I frowned. "I am sure. Jacob can not go with us. He's got school, he's got the pack, he's got his father… I don't think he should come with us. This trip would take us more than a weekend, Carlisle, you know."

Carlisle sighed. _Yes, I know. It's just that…_

"When can we leave?" he interrupted his own thoughts, knowing that once I made up my mind, it was very difficult for me to change my mind.

"I would have preferred us going as soon as possible. I don't know, this week or the next one, maybe." I told him, remembering Bella's words.

"_Let's wait for Christmas to be over, at least. Edward, I don't want Charlie to spend it alone, I know he's excited about having Renesmee with him this year. Please!"_

"What's stopping you?"

"Bella." I simply answered.

_Bella? What's the matter with Bella?_ Carlisle was wondering.

"She wants to wait until Christmas Holidays passed. For Charlie." I explained to him.

_Oh, I see now._

"Well, of course we can wait. It's just a few months. I don't think there'll be any problem, son."

"Yes, I don't either. But…"

"I know, Edward. We all wished this could end. To be sure that Nessie will be fine. But for the moment, there's nothing to worry about."

"Yes, fine," I said, nodding.

_Now we have to see where were going first._

"Rio," I continued, remembering the legends I had seen in Kaure's minds, the women from Isle Esme during my honeymoon with Bella. "That would be the best place to start with. It seems there are more legends about this child there."

_Yes, I remember what you told us when arriving from Brazil._

"So we started out in Rio, as you said. In the Ticuna's tribe, or…?"

"In that place, exactly. Then we will see where their legends lead us." I agreed with him.

We were in silence for a moment. Carlisle was starting to wonder what we would find after having listened to the little that Kaure had told me and what I had heard from her mind. The possibilities of finding something positive weren't very high, but we had to start with something. I wasn't sure if someone like Renesmee had ever existed in the history, or if she was, precisely, the first one in her kind.

One in a kind, just like Rosalie had said once.

As if I had called out to them, Rosalie and Emmett came downstairs to gather out with us, and plan the trip with us.

"Edward, I heard you saying that we would be waiting until Christmas Holidays are over, is it true?" Rosalie asked me, a light tone of disapproval.

"I'm doing it for Bella and Renesmee, they both want to spend Christmas with Charlie, Rose."

"Hmph," Rose snorted. "Fine."

"It doesn't matter the when," Emmett interrupted. "as long as we make it to Rio. I already want to try the new variety that we'll have in Brazil. Can you imagine, Edward?" he asked me, excited.

"I can't imagine, I know. Do you forget that I already tried some of it?" I told him, making my tone sound a little cocky.

_Huh?_ Emmett thought, and I could almost hear the click in his head. "Oh, right. Isle Esme." He sighed heavily. "You're lucky."

I shook my head, Emmett was only thinking on the animals that he could hunt being in Brazil, nothing disturbed his quietness.

Rosalie decided to speak up, she sighed to bring Carlisle's and Emmett's attention to her. "The only thing I'm glad of is that we'll get rid of that stinky dog for a while. Maybe when we come back, the stink would have gone away from the house."

"Rosalie, don't start," Carlisle asked her.

Rosalie snorted again, but nodded. It was difficult that Rosalie didn't do something that Carlisle asked her. And this was one of those occasions.

"How long are we staying in Rio?" Rosalie asked, changing the subject.

"We're still not sure, Rose," Carlisle told her.

"Esme was thinking between buying a new property in the city or staying in the island. What do you think would be better?"

"Rio is a city where the sun rarely hides, Rose. Maybe she would prefer us staying in Isle Esme, don't you think? At least you want us to spend the entire day hidden away."

Rosalie snorted once again, but nodded. "You're right. Isle Esme should be our option." She said, and then turned her face towards the staircase. "I'll go tell her, though the surest it that she'd already heard," she said, laughing.

Emmett and Rosalie went together, leaving Carlisle and me again alone, planning the trip.

"We could go to Zafrina and her sisters. They might have heard something about it, they're in the Amazonas, too. So it would be useful."

"Sure. You're right."

There wasn't much to plan, being in Rio and then after having researched with the Ticuna tribe about what their legends say, and how true they could be, we would decide what to do next and where to go.

The sound of my cell phone ringing interrupted me before beginning to speak with Carlisle again.

There was only one person that could be dialing this number: Bella.

I answered in the first ring as it was usual, I didn't like left someone waiting, much less if it was my Bella.

"What is it, Bella?" I told her, tense. I couldn't imagine what she had to tell me what couldn't wait for her to get home and having decided to call me.

"Come, bring Carlisle," why would she want Carlisle to come, too? "I saw Irina, and she saw me, but then she saw Jacob and she got mad and ran away, I think." As soon as she said that, I got on my feet, Carlisle with me, alarmed because of my reaction. "She hasn't shown up here – yet, anyway, - but she looked pretty upset so maybe she will. If she doesn't, you and Carlisle have to go after her and talk to her. I feel so bad."

I heard from the other side of the phone to Jacob, probably, snarling.

"We'll be there in half a minute," I assured her while Carlisle and I were already running towards Bella was with Renesmee and Jacob.

Carlisle saw the stress that this news had caused in me, and started to get worried a little bit, too.

Alice had seen this soon visit of Irina to reconcile with our family after what had happened in the last year because of Laurent, having denied us their help when we most had needed it, making us to ally with the wolves, and then her absence from our wedding. There were no hard feelings, but I was doubting of the outcome of this visit. Having seen a wolf in Bella's company, wasn't a very good sing.

"She surely was impressed, that's all. She doesn't know Bella, Edward," Carlisle told me.

At that moment I heard Jacob's and Renesmee's thoughts coming closer to us before I listened to their steps on the ground. Behind us, I also heard Leah and Seth running. Jacob had called them.

The three stopped in a nearby meadow, and in that second I was by Bella's side, Carlisle was behind me.

_Daddy, grandpa Carlisle?_ Renesmee was thinking, there was a slight tone of relief, remembering Bella's face, while she was assuring to them everything was fine. I didn't understand what was the danger for having had to alarmed us this way.

_Oh, it's good you're here,_ Jacob thought, when seeing us, not just us, but also Leah and Seth.

_We're here for whatever you need,_ Leah assured him. Seth thinking the same thing.

_It's just a precaution,_ Jacob assured them.

"She was up on that ridge," Bella told me before anyone of us asked her. "Maybe you should call Emmett and Jasper" was it that bad? That she wanted us to call for Emmett and Jasper, too. "and have them come with you. She looked… really upset. She growled at me."

The doubts I had had of why Bella would want us to call my brothers, too, dissipated from my mind as soon as I heard the last thing.

Had she dared growling at Bella? "What?" I said, without being able to hide the ire that caused me what Bella said.

_Edward…_ Carlisle put one of his hands on my shoulder, trying to calm me down and preventing me from doing something reckless. "She's grieving. I'll go after her."

_You stay here with Bella and Nessie…_

What? Of course not!

"I'm coming with you." I told him.

_Mmm, it might be the best. We have to know what she's thinking. But calm down._

I tried to make my look and expression to tell Carlisle that I was calmed, though I didn't fool him. He perfectly knew that I could be calmed down right now, but when seeing Irina and remembering what Bella had told me, I would get mad again. But I wouldn't lose control with her, and that was something that Carlisle also knew.

_Okay, let's go before we lose her, Edward._ Carlisle nodded, and we sprinted towards where it could still be smelled Irina's scent.

I heard Jacob begging in his mind for Renesmee to be taken back to the house, and Bella understanding what was it he wanted, she nodded and I heard them getting away.

_I'll have to settle with donated blood…_ Renesmee was thinking gleefully and a bit smug while they got away. In a few seconds, they were too far away from us to know what they were thinking, and if they had already made it to the house again.

I could not even smile when I listened to Renesmee being so happy of the outcome of the hunting, at least; I was too anxious for what could happen if we didn't find Irina, or if we did find her.

We ran several miles, her scent led towards east. But eventually, and strangely, her scent was diminishing until almost disappear. I could not listen to her thoughts anywhere close by, much less to her footsteps or the road she was taking. We didn't have any kind of guidance or idea as to where to find her if we kept looking for her.

_Nothing?_ Carlisle asked me.

"I can't get to listen to her. Maybe we won't reach her." I told him, worried.

In that moment we got the other bank of ocean. Carlisle turned to see me. _Do you think she might have crossed?_

"Maybe she'd chosen to go in a straight line?" Carlisle suggested.

I nodded, and we both got into the ocean. We crossed the sea quickly to the shore, and when getting out on the other side of the east, there was nothing to follow. We were in blank, so we decided to come back.

The entire way back I considered the consequences that this little meeting would cause. And with each step that I took towards the house and Bella and Renesmee, it worried me even more. I did not want anything to happen to them, I didn't want Irina to take wrongly the fact of having seen Bella with a wolf. I didn't want her to want to take serious revenge as she once had wanted to. We had refused to help her hurting and revenging Lauren's death on the wolves' hands.

What if her revenge included Bella?

No, I told myself, quit the pessimism. Irina would come back, and things would be cleared out, I was trying to convince myself, but it was hard to stop worrying.

The only thing I knew, was that Irina wouldn´t growl at Bella again or come any close to her with negative intentions.

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**Okay, hoping you'd enjoyed this chapter, and I'll be waiting for your reviews! =D**

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	29. Chapter 28, THE FUTURE

**Hi everyone!**

**Sorry for taking me so long to update a new chapter, but I was out of town this week on vacations and I'm once again leaving on monday, but I'll be back the next week and hoping I have something ready, cause my grandma doesn't have a PC or laptop, and I don't have a laptop myself either, :( so sad, but what am I gonna do? Ha, just wait to be back to keep writing.**

**Oh, yeah, I'm still getting very little reviews, but you know what? I'm so happy that at least get to get those few reviews, THANKS SO MUCH to all those ones who do review, makes me love you more, even if I don't know you guys, cause your words and support are amazing to me... thanks to Wolfpup14, Reznil, munkijs, sholtsclaw698, missionarycook and katt who reviewed the last chapter.**

**Well, here you have the new chapter, hope you like it and review.**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

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CHAPTER 28. The future

I had to endure the entire way back my own negative guesswork about this matter with Irina, while I was listening to Carlisle struggling between the negative and the positive, none of the two wanted to think that this would lead to a bad outcome, but we couldn't help it.

While we were running back, we kept searching for the scent of Irina or her footsteps, or her thoughts about the house or the surroundings, maybe she had come back, or something, but we never heard anything.

It was beyond obvious that Irina didn't have planned coming back, not soon at least.

I wasn't sure if I should get worried or just stop thinking about that. What could possibly happen, that Irina wouldn't want to get back the old friendship with the Cullens? Well, we had already lived without knowing anything about her, or seeing her, more than five years, and I for more than two years since the last time I had been in Denali, so, maybe, this wasn't as bad as it seemed.

Of that I was trying to convince myself, but there was something, that was bothering me, and I couldn't find that _little headache_ that I was having because of this Irina issue.

_Maybe she will come back to Tanya and Kate?_ Carlisle wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe." I told him, not wanting to assure anything that I wasn't sure of.

Carlisle shook his head, his tone was sad. "It's a shame that Irina had reacted that way. I hope that she has come back to Tanya and Kate, so that way we could speak with her and apologize." It was obvious that Carlisle would want to apologize, but, of what? We had not done anything wrong.

"We do not have anything to apologize for," I told him, a little brusque.

Carlisle guessed because of my tone that I was still mad about what Bella had told me, that she had growled at her.

"It's not because of that, Carlisle. But we hadn't done anything that deserves an apology from our side. It's her who should apologize, don't you think?"

Carlisle sighed, knowing that, again, I wouldn't change my mind. Remembering too, how I was, the many reasons that Irina had to apologize to our family than the reasons we had towards them. The wolves, under our _protection_, was because of a strong reason, and fair. They had saved Bella from being killed on Laurent's hands, I couldn't believe that they would have thought on the possibility of us allowing them to have revenge over Laurent's death, when he had it well deserved. "Maybe, son. But it's always better to try to make peace, instead of war." He said at the end.

I didn't answer. We were about to arrive home, and I could read the anxiety in every member of the family, including Renesmee. Though it was more because of the lack of news, and that we weren't still back yet.

I didn't know how Bella felt, but I could guess.

Seth and Leah leaned over out the road from where we were coming into the house, and I could see that Jacob was still in his wolf form. He wasn't going to allow that Renesmee were in any danger, for as minimal as it were, so he had decided to stay behind with Seth and Leah, just in case. As soon as he heard my steps, he went back to the place where he had his clothes stashed to phase back to human and got ahead into the house and listening to the news. He wanted to be one hundred percent sure that Renesmee were going to be fine.

Before getting into the front lawn, everyone's eyes turned towards the glass wall when they heard our footsteps getting nearer.

_Only two sets of foot?_

_Didn't they find Irina or they got into a fight?_

_What would have happened?_

My family's thoughts were a mixture of confusion and a little bit of fear because of what would've happened and we came to tell them. I rolled my eyes when I realized that they were expecting a fight. It was ridiculous that that would've happened, much less in Carlisle's presence.

As soon as we walked through the door, Emmett yelled at me in his head.

_Why didn't you call to us, Edward? We could have helped..._

I frowned, and taking into account that we hadn't found her, for a moment I considered that with Emmett's and Jasper's help we would have reached her, maybe she had taken a different path than the one we had followed.

"What happened? Did you find her?" Bella asked anxiously. Her arms stretched over Renesmee.

"No," I answered her simply, shaking my head.

"We followed her trace until the beach," Carlisle started explaining more deeply. "and we got out on the other side of ocean, we didn't find her scent for miles. We thought maybe she had taken a straight line, but nothing."

_She should have been very upset to escape out of our reach so fast..._ Jasper was musing.

_I knew you should've called us._ Emmett thought.

"Upset enough as to growl Bella when she saw that she was with a wolf," I answered to Jasper, while I was listening to Jacob almost running into the house.

"What happened? How did it go?" his voice sounded a bit agitated, out of anxiety.

Bella, who hadn't said anything, answered him. "They didn't find her."

_Damn!_ Jacob thought, not wanting that Renesmee listening to that expression, and then he added, "It's a shame. Do you think Nessie'll be fine?" that was his biggest concern, as it was everyone's at that moment, probably.

"I don't think Irina comes back. At least not very soon." Bella said.

"Why do you think that, Bella?" I asked her. Her voice sounded completely sure of what she was saying.

"I saw her expression, Edward. She was really mad." Bella assured me again.

I nodded slowly, even when I would've wished to be able to contradict her. "I know, love."

"Well," Esme interrupted. She didn't like talking about enmities, much less with a family that we had been very good friends of until recently. "It's not worth it trying too hard on thing about what could've happened. Let's hope Irina comes back, and lets us explain her everything."

Alice was very quiet, exceptionally quiet. "Do you see something, Alice?" I asked her.

She turned to see me, her expression a bit upset. I could see why. "Nothing. Not for the moment. Maybe she's too upset as to make any decision."

"It's the surest," Rosalie said, indifferent.

After that, Rosalie and Esme went alone to the second floor. Emmett and Jasper went out to hunt. Carlisle excused himself to go to his office and Alice stayed with us in the room, trying to see something in her visions that involved Irina. Bella and Jacob sat on the couch, Renesmee on Bella's lap.

I stayed close to Alice, we were both wishing that Irina made any decision based on reason so we could see something, but there was nothing. We both supposed that it might be too soon.

I listened to Carlisle, he was still worried about what this could cause to our friendship with Tanya and her family, that maybe Irina would go to them and break any kind of family bond that there was between us.

He was the only one who was still thinking about her that way.

Alice and I simply saw any kind of decision that she were making, neither coming back to Forks nor going to Denali with her sisters. None of them seemed very likely.

Renesmee had already forgotten what had happened. She was comfortably playing and laughing with Jacob, who was trying to keep her distracted of the tension that could still be felt about what had just happened. It was easy to distract her, and soon there were only laughter and happiness in her mind. Jacob, too, seemed to let it aside, deciding to focus only in Renesmee.

Bella didn't say another word, but Jacob sometimes looked at her, and I could see that he didn't take his eyes off of me and Alice. He was maybe expecting as much as Alice and I that she saw something.

At the end of an hour, Alice sighed heavily. "I don't think Irina is going back to Denali, Edward."

Before I could say anything, Bella spoke. Her voice sounded almost tormented. "This is my fault. I can't believe that-"

Renesmee and Jacob stopped when they heard her.

I interrupted her before she kept going. How could she think that? "It's not true, Bella. Is regrettable that Irina had reacted that way. But this isn't your fault in any way, love. Don't blame yourself."

Bella shook her head. "If it hadn't been because of my camaraderie with Jacob," she turned to see him. "no offense, Jacob. But," she continued, turning her face to me. "that only caused to upset her. She came to make peace with you, and she had to see us. Why didn't I pick a different place for hunting? Why didn't I realize that she was there before Jacob phased?" her voice had risen in volume, almost in an hysterical way. And Renesmee was getting anxious of hearing her.

"Bella, love, calm down. Things aren't like that. You didn't have any way of knowing that Irina would see you. Besides, she was aware of our friendship with the wolves. What was she surprised for?"

I really didn't understand. Alice noticed the same thing I had said.

"You're right, Edward." Alice supported me. "He is, Bella. Stop worrying. Everything will be fine."

_There's something odd here, but I don't see what..._

Bella didn't look convinced, but still, she nodded, and turned to Renesmee to calm her down, too.

Carlisle was coming downstairs at that moment, the phone in his hand. "Are you calling Tanya?" I asked him when I see what he was thinking.

He nodded, and then said. "I think it's the best. They should know that Irina came, but we couldn't speak with her. She may go back to Denali. They have to be ready."

I didn't share his opinion, but maybe Tanya would have some idea of where Irina could have gone to.

Seconds later, Carlisle and everyone else were expecting for Tanya to pick up the phone so he would speak with her about her sister.

In the second ring, Tanya answered.

"_Hello?"_ Tanya spoke. I could hear the conversation much better through Carlisle's thoughts.

"Tanya, it's Carlisle."

"_Carlisle! It's so nice hearing you. Is everything alright?"_ it was obvious that Tanya would know that something wrong was going on than it were just a phone call to know how they were doing.

"In our family, yes, Tanya. It's about yours."

There was a short silence, and Tanya answered, a bit tense. _"Ours? What's wrong with our family, Carlisle?"_

"I was wondering if I could speak with Irina?"

Tanya sighed, and then her voice changed from tense to sad. _"We hadn't known anything about her since we decided to attend Edward's wedding, Carlisle."_

"It's such a shame to hear that, Tanya. We didn't imagine that Irina would react that way. I'm so sorry, really."

"_I know, Carlisle. Don't worry. We told Edward, and I'm telling you. You are more a family of us than what Laurent could have been. We don't understand how is it possible that Irina reacted that way. But what do you need to speak with us about her for?"_

"Irina came to Forks, Tanya-"

Before Carlisle kept talking, Tanya interrupted him. _"Really? Did you see her? Did you speak with her?"_

_I wish I had better news,_ Carlisle thought before answering to her.

"Bella was the one who saw her, but..."

"_What is it, Carlisle?"_

"Bella was out, hunting in the company of Jacob-"

"_Jacob? The wolf?"_ Tanya asked, remembering maybe the day our wedding, when she knew about Jacob the first time.

"That's right, Tanya. Jacob was in his wolf form, and Bella thinks that she was very upset when she saw him. After that she sprinted off without waiting for some explanations or anything. Bella called Edward and I immediately, but by the time we arrived she was too far already, and we even tried to look for her, but we weren't able to find her." Carlisle sighed. "I'm so sorry, Tanya. We were hoping that perhaps Irina came back to Denali with you. Alice hasn't been able to see anything yet."

There was another silence, a bit longer than the last one. When Tanya spoke again, her voice was saturated with sadness. _"We are distraught, Carlisle. None of us can believe that Irina had gone to Forks and still, hadn't returned home."_ Tanya sighed. _"It's difficult for us to lose our sister, for as shorter as our separation is. Let's hope it will be short."_

"Of course, Tanya. We also hope that Irina decides to come back to you soon."

"_Thank you, Carlisle."_ It didn't seem that Tanya were of the mood of keep talking, and Carlisle felt it, too.

"Well, Tanya, I said goodbye. And once again I repeat you my wishes that you family would be united again and soon."

"_Thank you again. Take care, and please, give our regards to your entire family."_

"Of course, Tanya. Our regards, too." And then Carlisle hung up the phone. "They haven't heard anything of Irina since Edward and Bella's wedding." Carlisle said to everyone, even when we had already heard.

The room became silent for a moment.

Alice, was the one who spoke. "Well, I guess there isn't much that we can do now."

Everyone nodded, and they all retired from the room eventually, after having gone back to the room when they had listened that Carlisle would call Tanya so inform her about what had happened with Irina.

Bella turned to see me and then she got up with Renesmee in her arms, half laid down and she was falling asleep, Jacob moved to her side. Bella stopped by my side, and she wrapped her free arm around my waist. "Everything will be okay, right?"

"Of course it will, love. Don't worry." I told her, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Do you think we should take her home?" I asked her, looking at Renesmee.

Bella nodded, and Jacob offered to go with us. He just wanted to make sure that Renesmee were fine, even when he knew that neither Bella nor I would allow something to happen to her. He would be more calmed.

Renesmee slept quietly, the incident with Irina seemed to have banished from his mind, which Bella and I thought it fine. Jacob was for a quarter of an hour rounding the house, watching that everything were fine, that Renesmee were completely safe. At the end he decided to go and rest at his home and come back tomorrow morning. Bella had sighed heavily when she listened to Jacob ran farther than the three meters of radius that he had been running, and then she had shot me a tremendously naughty smile when I told her that he was gone.

Once again, the night did not have the enough hours. But they were definitely the best one from the day.

The next day, we came back a little earlier than usual, Renesmee was still asleep, and not even Jacob or any of the other wolves were near the house. Alice came downstairs immediately, with Esme behind her. Her face seemed worried

"Did you see something, Alice?" I asked her, when I couldn't see anything.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Nothing concrete. The only thing I could see, is that Irina won't return to Denali. Her face looks so... upset. I think that she is still too devastated as to make any decision about her course. So I don't know where she'll be going to."

I nodded. "Where's Carlisle?"

As soon as I asked her, Carlisle showed at the top of the staircase. "I'm here, son. What's going on?"

Bella turned to see me, just like everyone else, as if they were expecting me to say or bring some bad news. That way Bella looked at me, and so did everyone were thinking.

"Bella would be leaving to Italy in a few days," I started explaining them. "so I think, that we should have every detail about our trip to Rio settled."

"I thought you had said that we would be waiting for the Christmas holidays to pass." Rosalie asked while she came downstairs towards the room.

"Yes, that's right. But Bella and I were talking about it last night, and we thought that we can go be going ahead, and when December comes return to Forks."

Bella nodded, and then she walked to the couch to settle Renesmee, who was yet asleep.

"It seems good to me," Carlisle said.

"Not everyone have to come back. Only Bella, Renesmee and I. When the holidays are done, we would come back to find you again and keep researching the most we can."

"Jacob would come with us," Bella said, her tone was an affirmation, not a question.

Everyone became silent, waiting for me to respond. "I thought we had agreed that Jacob wouldn't come, Bella."

"Well, we had. But I don't think is fair, Edward."

_I can't believe she's standing up for the dog again._ Rosalie complained silently.

"Jacob is just as interested about this as any one of us. His whole life is at stake, just like mine is."

"But Bella-" Rosalie started, and she stopped when she heard Jacob's footsteps walking into the front lawn.

"Jacob's coming," Carlisle announced.

At that moment, he walked into the house.

"Hey guys. Are you talking about me? I heard you." He said in a quiet tone. His eyes quickly slid to the couch where Renesmee was sleeping.

She would soon be awake. Better to fix this once and for all. "That's right." The confirmation stopped him for a moment.

"What is it with me?"

"We were considering the option of allowing you to come with us to Rio."

"Considering? I thought it was a fact I was coming, too. Do you really think that I would have let you go without me?"

I shook my head, not very anxious of confirming what he had just said.

"I'm coming," Jacob said.

"We know, Jacob," Bella, again, supported him. "That's what I was saying a moment ago."

Carlisle, that had been analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of taking Jacob with us, decided to intervene in his favor, too. "It may be a good idea."

I read what he was thinking.

_Consider it, Edward._

"It may be..." I started, not very willing of admitting it. "that... you're right, Carlisle."

"What you're talking about?" Jacob asked, a bit upset, because he knew that he was the matter in our conversation.

_Edward, son?_

I sighed, giving up. Carlisle was right, at least in that point. "Carlisle believes that it's convenient that you come with us to Rio."

Everyone, including Jacob, were surprised. But deeply, they weren't completely surprised, they knew that Carlisle always looked for making everyone else happy, while he could do it. That Jacob went with us was something that would make him happy, and plus, it was of help.

"What?" Rosalie gasped, remembering her joy by imagining herself away from Jacob for a while, away from the stench he brought, rather.

"Yes, Rose. And in part, he's right."

"Ugh. I cannot believe this."

"Listen. Do you think that the people we'll go look for, the people that believes in the legends they have and in _vampires_ or whatever is it, are going to tell us what they know about _us_. Maybe it's a good idea to take Jacob, and they'd be more willing to tell what they know to him."

Everyone thought about it for a moment, and nodded. Rosalie was the last one on accepting that what I had said was true, and slowly nodded.

_Yes!_ Jacob celebrated. "You're right, you're absolutely right."

_At least I'll be able to do something active..._ Jacob was thinking, while he considered the information he would get to help Renesmee if it was necessary. "When are we leaving?" he asked, suddenly anxious to start doing his part of the job.

Bella answered this time. "In a few days I'm leaving to Italy, as soon as we're back we're leaving. Is that okay?"

Jacob snorted. "Of course it is. I was asking because I had to let Billy and Leah and the pack know."

"What about Sam" Bella asked.

"Yeah, him, too. Leah, Seth and everyone else would have to stay with him while we come back."

_Leah won't be too happy, but I'm not staying behind because of her. Nessie is my priority..._

"That's right." Jacob repeated for himself.

Bella was uneasy during great part of the morning after Alice had announced again that she had seen Irina but, again, without a straight path. After a while, she had calmed down by holding Renesmee in her arms. Jacob and Renesmee were playing around great part of the afternoon in the front lawn along Rosalie and Emmett. Bella stayed with us this time, planning her trip to Italy and what would she tell to them, we reminded her who formed part of the guard and how should she behave; part of me was tranquil remembering that Bella couldn't be tracked when she left, neither Jane nor Alex could do any harm to her.

Several days passed before we were all in agreement that every detail of every one of all the trips that were going to be made in very little time from now were perfect and ready. Charlie had come every day to visit his daughter and granddaughter – sometimes even to me, very rarely he called me son, but he seemed to be getting used to it -, and he still didn't know that our family would be out for a few months before he saw us again. It was settled already, that at least Bella and I, Renesmee and Jacob would be back before the Christmas Holidays so we could spend them with Charlie and probably, Billy and Sue and the other wolves from La Push.

Renesmee was almost as excited as the last time that we had gone out, the day that we had done that short trip to our meadow. She had asked to Jacob and Rose to show her images of the places that we would be visiting. Sometimes, surprising me, she would ask that to me. Bella was always hanging out with us when we were sitting in front of the computer seeing the landscapes that we would be witnessing for ourselves in a few days.

And though bit by bit, the rage I felt every time when I saw the excitement that Renesmee felt by Jacob's side or they took a walk or some game he played with her caused her, I felt another pang of rage when I saw the excitement that it caused her the news that Jacob was coming with us.

You had to get used to it, I repeated myself. But it was difficult to know that my daughter, of barely three-month-old, already had her soul mate by her side, waiting for her to reach an adequate age to be loved.

It helped, that none of them, Renesmee because she didn't have any idea that that was her destiny, and Jacob because in genuine sincerity, of the only thing he worried about was of Renesmee's happiness, the only thing he wanted, was to make sure that she were the happiest girl in this world, and at the end, how different was that from what Bella and I wanted?

It had been a while since Jacob had left to La Push, thinking that at any moment we would also be leaving to our homes, to speak with Sam to arrange some of the things during our absence.

"Well, guys, I'm leaving. I gotta see Sam," Jacob had announced before leaving.

Rosalie had sighed with relief. Ridiculously, she still had trouble with Jacob. Didn't she understand, that the surest thing was that we would have him in the family during eternity? Well, at least there would be a lot of time to get used to that idea.

"To Sam?" Bella had asked.

"Yes, we gotta arrange some things. Leah, Seth, Quil and Embry are going back to his pack for a while, so..."

"What did Leah say?"

"She almost ripped my head off," Jacob said sarcastically, at the same that he remembered the moment in which he had announced the news to his pack. Nobody had been surprised by Leah's reaction, everyone knew that she was happy, the happiest she could, being in Jacob's pack though that meant _taking care_ of the Cullen family. She convinced herself that it was to take care of Seth, of Jacob, and now Renesmee, but deeply, she obviously did it because of Sam. Everyone had known from the moment she abandoned his pack to join Jacob and Seth's.

Bella laughed, and nodded. "Sure."

Renesmee had been playing with him, and she was yet in his arms while he said goodbye.

"Nessie, I'll see you tomorrow," he told her, and then kissed her on her forehead. I had to exert some of control when I saw the show of affection, again, it helped that I read in his mind that he saw her almost like a sister. "Take care of her," he told Bella and I in a way a bit, very little, authoritarian.

"Always," Bella and I answered at the same time, then we both turned to see each other and smiled at our response.

Jacob rolled his eyes and then walked out the door.

"Are we taking her home?" Bella asked me as soon as we heard Jacob's footsteps disappearing.

I made a face, because I knew that Renesmee was starting to feel tired and we wouldn't be able to take her soon enough into her crib so she would sleep quietly.

Bella realized what would be my answer. "It doesn't matter. She can sleep here, while we wait." She included herself, knowing that she wouldn't be part of the matter that held me here more than usual.

"It's just for today, love. We have to have all the details ready." I assured her.

"I know."

"You can take her to our bedroom," I told her, referring to my old bedroom.

"It's fine. Renesmee finds very comfortable the couch, too." She told me laughing.

It was true, so I nodded.

After an hour of the usual time in which Renesmee slept and Bella and I already had her in her crib on our cottage, we were still on the house with everyone else, planning the last details of the trip. Renesmee had fallen asleep and now she was laid down on the couch. Rosalie had excused herself with Esme and went to Rosalie's bedroom first, after having see Renesmee falling completely exhausted on the couch and then falling asleep. I could hear them while they talked to Carlisle.

I couldn't see the _concrete_ reason why Alice wasn't with them picking up the clothes they would take with them, but it was easy to make a conclusion. She was looking for something in the future, especially Irina, yet.

I felt my mind divided in several sections; part of me was listening to what Carlisle was saying, another one was listening to the argument between my mother and my sister; another one was listening to the excitement of Jasper and Emmett for the new prays they would find in Brazil; another one was listening intently to what Alice was seeing; and the last one seemed to be bond, only listening to Bella's breathing and Renesmee's dreams.

Sometimes, well, most of the time, it was very annoying not having just one _mind_¸ but the thoughts of everyone else stuck inside my head.

Only Bella kept herself out of my head somehow, that it seemed, I would never find out.

Rosalie and Esme had taken all the clothes they had on Esme's and Carlisle's wardrobe for starting to pick out, they would then go the huge – though not as big as ours – Rosalie's and Emmett's wardrobe to pick up the clothes that they would take. Only Alice and Jasper didn't seem to be interested on that matter. Though I was sure that Bella and I were on the same page that they were.

"I think that we would have to go shopping as soon as we get to Rio, Esme." I heard Rosalie, almost beg, while she saw the few _summer_ clothing she had.

What was she expecting? I wondered. We lived in Forks not in Florida.

"Yes, I think so." Esme wasn't a fan of shopping as my sisters were, so the idea didn't excited her as it would have if Rosalie would have been talking to Alice. "Do you have enough on your wardrobe or would you need to go shopping for you, too?" Esme asked her, fondly, knowing which would be her answer.

Rosalie smiled at her. "For me, too." She shook her head and then added. "It's like another world. I know we won't be able to get out as much as I'd want to, during the daylight. But I also know that we won't go out during the night if we had the chance when being researching." Her priority, too, was Renesmee.

Truly, Rose wouldn't go back to be the most selfish person in this world. She was still being selfish, of course, but she didn't have the first place.

Sometimes it amazed me the changes that my daughter had done in some of us.

She was special in more than one way.

"We're leaving in a few days, I think we'll be in Rio… mmm, approximately, one week." Carlisle said. "What do you think, son?"

"I agree. Bella-" I stopped to clear my throat, I suddenly felt as if a lump prevented me of thinking of Bella in front of Felix or Jane in five days. "would be leaving in four days, and as soon as she comes back we're leaving; the trip to Rio would take us more or less than twenty fours hours, so yes, in a week, maybe less."

_Easy, Edward. Nothing will happen to her. I'll be close to her, and I think that Aro want to break the _friendship_ that there's between us._ Carlisle smiled sarcastically when he said friendship. As if that concept really existed in Aro's vocabulary.

"I know."

"Esme already called to the cleaning crew so they would go back to the house in Isle Esme, the tickets are already booked, we already have the first place where we're going and a traced route, we already talked to Jacob and explained to him what is it that he have to ask and search in the village when we get to Rio…"

The list of _activities_ in Brazil that Carlisle had enlisted to me went becoming every time less strong. Any way, I could hear what he was thinking.

Emmett turned to see me and raised his eyebrows. _Jaguars, panthers… anacondas. I already want to get to Rio, little bro!_

I smiled curtly at him, and then turned to Carlisle.

"We have to talk to Jacob again." I added to Carlisle when he was wondering about my silence. "Remind him what he must do. We can't take any risks."

"We will. But I don't think that Jacob had forgotten. He doesn't want to take risks either when it's about Nessie, Edward."

"Yes, well, it's never too much."

_Sure._ Carlisle nodded.

"The first one to catch an anaconda, wins," I heard Emmett telling Jasper. He was orchestrating one more of his bets.

"Deal," Jasper agreed.

_This'd be quite interesting. A change at last… mmm, Alice._ Jasper thought, bringing his attention suddenly on the emotions emanating from Alice.

I could see why. Something was changing, something that was related to Irina, and she didn't like it at all.

I couldn't see the reason of that change yet, it was as if she didn't decide on doing what she was planning, she was undecided.

_Damn! What's she waiting for? What is she going to do?_ Alice growled inwardly because of the future, while she was walking around from side to side slowly. She was more focused on what she was seeing in her mind than what she was seeing in front of her, like garlands and vases. In that moment she could have walked into anything, so she was trying to walk carefully and be unnoticed. It was hard to fool Jasper, and much more to me. Her face said it all, even more when we knew the different expressions that she wore when she was seeing the future and when she wasn't.

_Come on! Do something I can see._ Alice kept begging, when the worry that Alice felt by not being able to see anything and not being able to do anything to make Irina to decide once and for all, made Jasper to reach his limit.

_Alice, I've told her to stop worrying about Irina; as always, she wouldn't listen to me…_

Jasper turned to see Alice, desperate. "Let it go, Alice; she's not our concern."

_I hope she calms down once and for all,_ he was thinking while he sent a wave of serenity through the entire room.

Alice and everyone else forgot for a moment about any of ours concerns. Even Renesmee started having dreams much more colorful than usual.

I didn't understand well why Alice was so _obsessed_ about the Irina issue.

_Does he have to know who I'm thinking in, too?_ Alice complained while she stuck out her tongue at Jasper after his comment and when she felt him using his gift to calm everyone down in the room, but knowing that his main goal was her.

To distract herself, and please Jasper for the moment, Alice took one of the vases with flowers that she had in front of herself; that – according to her opinion – were starting to wither.

Carlisle and I continued with our conversation; just like everyone else did with their own stuff.

I suddenly turned, as if something forced me to, when I saw the peaceful face of Renesmee sleeping on the couch, Bella was by her side staring at her little face sleeping, too. The two of them looked so serene, so full of peace, that something in the bottom of my mind told me to etch that memory for the future. I didn't quite understand the feeling and the strength of what asked me to, but instinctively I did.

Carlisle noticed my distraction and stopped the gush of words.

Then, my head snapped towards Alice and what she was seeing in her mind. Irina. How could she be seeing her now, when she had been struggling to see her before? She simply came to her mind.

The two of us froze up when we saw the next image in her mind. It didn't have anything to do with her…

The vase that Alice had been holding slipped from between her fingers and fell into the ground, making it shatter in pieces and causing a scandalous noise. Esme and Rosalie sprinted downstairs immediately, half-scared for what they had heard. When they came into the room, they froze when they saw our frozen expressions.

_What is going on?_ Rosalie and Esme wondered.

We all stayed frozen looking intently at Alice's back. We couldn't see her expression.

I had only been able to see a second before the vase had fallen from her hands, how her expression suddenly changed, pure horror.

Alice turned towards us then, and I saw it.

The Volturi, all of them. They were coming to us.

How could…? What was happening? I didn't understand.

Neither did Alice.

I gasped when I saw that it wasn't just the guard; it wasn't just Jane and Alec, Demetri and Felix, even Aro, Caius and Marcus, but the wives, too.

Alice and I were frozen while we were seeing the scene where we were condemned to a sure death, not only to my family, but to Bella and Renesmee, too. What had we done? My sister and I were wondering over and over again.

Jasper reacted when he heard me gasping. "What?" he said and without even thinking, he jumped and was by her side in less than half a second. By her side, he took her from her shoulders and started shaking her a little brusquely in his desperate attempt to know what had terrified Alice. "What, Alice?"

_It's something bad, something really bad._ Emmet was thinking while he moved towards the window, ready to attack anything that had scared so much to Alice, and had ripped that gasp from me and got on us masks of horror in our faces while they kept wondering what was happening, and the anxiety kept growing even more when they didn't get any response from us.

The silence lasted only two seconds, before Jasper insisted again.

We looked like real statues. Everyone were petrified while they were waiting for us to react, but the strangest things, it wasn't just their bodies, but their minds who were also petrified, as if they didn't want to imagine the scenario we would be forced to face. Because there was something in us that made them believe, almost being sure that something wrong was falling on us, and soon. Sooner than anyone of us could have wished.

"What is it?" Jasper insisted while he shook Alice again, trying to finally listen to what was happening.

Alice's mind seemed to work again, when the vision stopped. There wasn't much to see, everyone was here, to destroy my family.

After all that time, the Volturi would be the cause of my extermination.

"They're coming for us," Alice and I answered in a whisper to the uncertainty of our family, at the time that we were wishing we could have another answer. "All of them."

Again, the silence flooded through the room with more strength than a moment ago.

This silence was different, it had in it, the taste of defeat, of sadness, and most of all of doubt. What had provoked such reaction in Aro and everyone else against the defenseless vegetarian Cullens? Our kind of life, rarely, had caused some disturbance in our world.

None of us could see what reason could be so powerful as to bring down on us such reaction.

The only thing that I knew is that I had to protect my two angels from such destiny. I had fought so much against cruel destiny, that for the first time in my existence I had thought that it already had had enough of my suffering to pay for my sins, that I thought that for the first time there would be more light than darkness in my life, that for the first time I felt like having wings to fly by my Bella's side, by my angel's side. All those hopes were crumbling down in front of me while I repeatedly look in my mind the image of the Volturi finishing up with the reasons of my existence, with my family…

I could hear cruel destiny, laughing and having fun at my expense, _You already had too much happiness, it's time for it to finish._

But, did that have to include Renesmee? Bella?

My mind got eventually clearer, the screams of desperation that seemed to be coming from my inside when seeing the image of my two angels being annihilated didn't seem to really be coming from my inside. Everyone had understood that it was the Volturi who would come to us.

And like Alice and like me, anyone understood the reason.

My eyes moved around for a second, the still asleep face of my daughter, that little person who had become in my second reason for existing in less than a second when I had heard her love thoughts towards her mother and towards me, her father, when she was still in Bella's womb, since I had touched her with my hands when she had born, since I had listened to her saying 'daddy' for the first time, since I had had her in my arms next to Bella, since I had formed, thanks to her, a family with my angel.

Bella was frozen by her side, and though I had no way of knowing what was going through her mind, I knew that it was the same thing that was going through mine, our daughter's life, Renesmee's.

In this moment, I knew that there was something that I should always have asked life for: to allow me to live for the rest of eternity with my two angels. What else did I have to ask for? Just seeing my daughter growing, seeing Bella happy to have her and have me by her side, as we had always dreamed; as we had always thought we already had.

All that future I was now seeing it crumbling down. Like the sweet dream that never came true.

"The Volturi," Alice said what we already knew.

"All of them," I growled, while I tried to understand the reason of this vision, of this future.

"Why? How?" Alice whispered, making echo of my thoughts and everyone else's, too.

But that didn't matter anymore, the reasons didn't matter. "When?" I asked.

"Why?" Esme said, her thoughts were only looking over all our faces and the possibility of never seeing them again.

"When?" Jasper repeated.

Alice calculated the time in which the first snowfall would hit Forks before answering. She focused for a moment, and then we both answered. "Not long."

"There's snow on the forest," Alice said what she had seen. "snow on the town. Little more than a month."

"Why?" Carlisle asked.

Neither Alice nor I answered to that. It was almost silly to ask. We all knew very well that Alice could not see the reasons behind her visions, only the outcome that those reasons caused.

"They must have a reason. Maybe to see..."

In that matter, Alice had something to say. Something in her visions told her that they had nothing, absolutely nothing to see; and Esme meant about Bella. "This isn't about Bella. They're all coming – Aro, Caius, Marcus, every member of the guard, even the wives."

_What? Of course not. There must be some mistake._

_All of them?_

_But... the wives? How?_

"The wives never leave the tower," Jasper said, refusing to believe this. With fear that something could happen to Alice if she saw herself face to face with the entire guard of the Volturi. "Never. Not during the southern rebellion. Not when the Romanians tried to overthrow them. Not even when they were hunting the immortal children. Never."

As much as I wanted to agree with Jasper, I couldn't. Alice had the reason.

"They're coming now." I whispered.

Carlisle was beginning to worry about what this _visit_ would cause to the family he had created and loved for so many years. "But why? We've done nothing! And if we had, what could we possibly do that would bring this down on us?"

I had been thinking about it, and the only possible reason that I found was the increasing number of members since the last time that Aro had known of the Cullen family. He was jealous of the gifts that in our family we had. Aro was sure that we would be the first one in being able to give his guard some trouble, even when in truth it wasn't like that. He also knew about the friends we had, and of their gifts. He knew that Bella would be something beyond magnificent when she changed into this immortal life. I didn't know what he was expecting.

That should be it, or something more... but what could it be?

"There are so many of us! They must want to make sure that..." my voice shut off, considering the option of having them here and that they saw Renesmee. Bella had said it herself. Aro would covet the unique our daughter was when he met her.

"That doesn't answer the crucial question! Why?" Carlisle repeated.

We all stayed silent for a short moment, trying to find some sense in this, logic to this so dangerous situation. But no one could find it. It didn't have any sense.

Why had they decided to come for us, in such a hostile way?

My mind seemed broken. I could only think on Bella and Renesmee. Suddenly, the words of Bella from this summer, just after I had finished with Victoria, came to my mind.

"_And it's not easy being the only helpless person around. Just you wait till I'm a vampire! I'm not going to be sitting on the sidelines next time."_

"_Next time? Did you anticipate another war soon?"_

"_With my luck? Who knows?"_

It seemed that her suppositions were becoming reality.

"Go back, Alice," Jasper told Alice, getting me out of my memory at the same time. "Look for the trigger. Search."

Alice shook her head, _there's no way, I don't think._ "It came out of nowhere, Jazz. I wasn't looking for them, or even us. I was just looking for Irina. She wasn't where I expected her to be..." Alice stopped mid-sentence while she realized of what had happened.

No, no, no. Irina?

I held my breath while Alice raised her head. Full understanding on her mind.

Knowing that I could listen to her, _It's the only explanation, Edward. I think._

"She decided to go to them," Alice started explaining. "Irina decided to go to the Volturi. And then they will decide... It's as if they were waiting for her. Like their decision was already made, and just waiting on her..."

The silence once again flooded the room, now with understanding while everyone began to understand what was it that had actually happened.

Irina had gone to the Volturi. But, to tell them what?

I felt that something very important was escaping me, as if I was missing some detail that would give me the answer, but kept escaping me. Refusing to give me what I needed. What had Irina done this for? What had caused her so much pain as to do this? The wolves?

Something in that answer didn't seem to me logical enough.

_There's must be something we can do._ Jasper was thinking.

The wolves? I wondered again to myself. But... Irina, Kate and Tanya knew about our alliance with the pack. Why was she deciding to go to the Volturi now?

It had to be something else, but I couldn't find that detail.

"Can we stop her?' Jasper suddenly asked.

"There's now. She's almost there." Alice answered.

"What is she doing?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm not sure." Alice said. None of us understood why Irina had taken that decision.

"She might have thought that we had broken our treaty with the wolves, and when she saw Jacob, she realized that it wasn't that way; and she decided to go to the Volturi." Jasper offered that theory, and it was something possible, I had to accept.

"Maybe. But there's something that just don't fit, and I can't understand what it is." Alice observed, almost repeating what a few instants ago had been going through my mind.

It was trued, but something didn't fit. I was almost sure that the wolves had something to do with this, but there was something else.

I growled, and everyone turned to see me. I noticed that Bella was like frozen, but before I could express my worry aloud, Alice interrupted me. "What happens?"

I turned to see her, "I don't know. It's just than I don't understand why Irina did this."

"Nobody does." Esme commented.

"So, what?" Rosalie asked, exasperated.

_Yes, yes, we already know that Irina'll go to the Volturi, now we've got to decide what to do…_

"It's not that easy, Rose." I told her through my teeth.

I couldn't imagine that the Volturi were going to be here in Forks in little less than a month, with the only purpose of exterminating our family. And now than included Bella and… Renesmee.

I had given immortality to Bella to have the rest of the eternity by her side. And now it turned out that I would have had more time with her if she had stayed human. How cruel destiny was. She insisted on taking away the happiness that gave us for whiles. It seemed like she was tearing off the petals of a rose and was saying: _happy, sad, happy, sad…_

And at those moments, it seemed, the last petal was sad.

"What?" Emmett asked confused. Obviously he didn't know what Rosalie had just thought.

"I just think that we should stop wondering why she did it and start thinking on what we're doing." Rosalie explained to them.

"Yes, I think we should-"

"Think of what she saw that afternoon," Bella said, interrupting Emmett and his plans of war against the Volturi. "To someone who'd lost a mother because of the immortal children, what would Renesmee look like?"

The silence became stunning in the room when Bella finished talking.

_My goodness!_ Esme cried inwardly when she realized what Bella meant.

It was the only thought that registered in my mind. For a long second, I didn't listen to anything in my mind, only the words of Bella resounding in my head.

_Immortal children._

_What would Renesmee look like?_

No, this could not be happening. Renesmee, she wasn't an immortal children, we weren't even sure that she would get to live the eternity or at least as much time as a human.

But Bella was right, once again.

When I heard her, I found the piece I was missing. The detail, that piece of information that was telling me that it wasn't the wolves what had caused that reaction in Irina. It had been that, according to her, we had _broken_ the most unforgivable of the rules. She had thought that Renesmee was an immortal child when she saw her hunting that afternoon. And for her reaction, I guessed that she wasn't close enough to her to notice that she was half-human, to hear her heart beating, to feel the heat emanating from her body, the color of her cheeks could be a trick; that was what she surely thought when she saw her.

This was far worse than what I'd imagined.

This was something the Volturi would never forgive.

There was no escape.

My mind worked again when I heard Carlisle whispering what we already knew at this moment.

"An immortal child." I heard him saying.

There was no hope, and if there was, I didn't know which was. Renesmee was just a baby, for the love of all that's holy!

Like we were already defeated, the pain that I felt in my chest when I saw my daughter sweetly and peacefully sleeping by Bella's side, made me fall down to my knees by her side. And as if somehow, by doing it, were going to protect them both, I wrapped my arms around them, both Bella and Renesmee.

Suddenly, I felt almost as miserable as I had felt on those days while we were waiting during Bella's pregnancy, because I would not only lose Bella, but my entire family.

"But she's wrong," Bella said, and she seemed to be answering my thoughts in a certain way, only that because of her words, I knew she meant Irina. "Renesmee isn't like those other children." I could see where Bella was going with this, but… "They were frozen, but she grows so much every day. They were out of control, but she never hurts Charlie or Sue or even shows them things that would upset them. She can control herself. She's already smarter than most adults. There would be no reason..."

Bella trailed off into silence just like everyone else was.

Each one of us knew that she was right, but what Bella didn't know, she had no idea, was that the Volturi would wait to make sure if Renesmee really was or wasn't an immortal child.

I knew that I had to tell her, but it as terrible to have to break down her hopes that way.

_That won't help at all,_ Jasper thought.

_I wish it was that way,_ Alice was wishing while she remembered it wasn't.

How to tell her?

It killed me not having an answer, or a sigh of relief for her when I heard what she was telling us, but the hope, even the possibility, of us succeeding on stopping the Volturi of exterminating our family for something we hadn't done, was almost nonexistent.

_Edward, we have to tell her._ Carlisle asked me.

"It's not the kind of crime they hold a trial for, love," I tried to tell her, without letting the agony nor the pain to be noticed. I wasn't sure if my attempt worked. "Aro's seen Irina's proof in her thoughts. They come to destroy, not to be reasoned with."

"But they're wrong." Bella insisted.

"They won't wait for us to show them that."

_How is it possible that we go through this?_ Esme was wondering, heart-broken. _Our Edward and Bella. Renesmee._

I didn't want to listen. It was like it was a fact. I knew it was, but deeply I wanted to wish that the end we were going to succeed on getting out of this as of many others. Of course, the _enemy_ now, wasn't anything like the others. What could we do against Demetri, when he was a tracker a thousand times better than what Jasmes'd been? Against Jane and Alec that didn't have anything of Lauren in them? Against Felix that was a thousand times stronger than Victoria?

They were nothing. They had been easy victories if they were compared with the Volturi guard.

_This is worse that what I could've imagined. I never thought Irina'd do this._ Carlisle was thinking while he remembered the long friendship of the Denali sister with our family. Tanya and Kate had no idea, and I wasn't sure if they would have reacted the same way.

Maybe we would never know.

Something we did know, considering that, maybe, this wasn't about the wolves and Laurent. Irina had betrayed the friendship with the Cullens because of her strict respect for the law. At least that was what it seemed.

"What can we do?" Bella asked, anxious.

"We fight." Emmett answered as if he didn't understand who the fight was against.

_Please, Emmett! It's ridiculous to even consider it._ Jasper thought, his only fear was that something happened to Alice.

"We can't win." Jasper answered growling.

"Well, we can't run. Not with Demetri around." Emmett insisted, making a noise of disgust.

_That is worse than being executed. He should know._

Suddenly, a new idea was starting to take shape into Emmett's mind, and for the first time tonight, I felt a pang of hope. It wasn't bad.

"And I don't know that we can't win. There are a few options to consider. We don't have to fight alone."

Bella's head snapped towards Emmett, and I knew what she would say before it came out of her mouth. "We don't have to sentence the Quileutes to death, either, Emmett!"

_She__'s got worse temperament, now, brother._ Emmet thought when he heard Bella.

I grimaced at him, and then he continued. "Chill, Bella." Emmett told her while he was thinking on what he was going to tell her. Again, my face froze in a grimace that didn't pass unnoticed by anyone, except Bella that kept looking at Emmett. "I didn't mean the pack. Be realistic, though—do you think Jacob or Sam is going to ignore an invasion? Even if it wasn't about Nessie? Not to mention that, thanks to Irina, Aro knows about our alliance with the pack now, too. But I was thinking of our other friends."

Carlisle reacted and understood what Emmett was meaning quickly. He didn't like it much. "Other friends we don't have to sentence to death."

_And again with the sentence to death._ Emmett thought. In that moment I could see what he was planning, which with every second that passed got more defined like a defense plan not an attack plan. And if we thought about it well, it might work.

"Hey, we'll let them decide," Emmett started explaining what was forming in his mind. I was impressed, I had to admit. "I'm not saying they have to fight with us." I could see the plan refining itself in his head as he spoke. "If they'd just stand beside us, just long enough to make the Volturi hesitate. Bella's right, after all. If we could force them to stop and listen. Though that might take away any reason for a fight..." Emmett started smiling, waiting for someone to applaud to his _great_ idea.

_Mmm, it might work. Yes, it had to._ Esme thought, excited to see that there was another possibility for her family than to be annihilated by the Volturi.

Carlisle and everyone else were beginning to consider Emmett's idea as a good possibility of surviving, and they saw how it could work if everything turned out as they believed that Emmett was thinking. There were lots of friends that may do it.

Tanya and Kate, Carmen and Eleazar, another covens.

"Yes," Esme agreed with Emmett. "That makes sense, Emmett. All we need is for the Volturi to pause for one moment. Just long enough to listen."

"We'd need quite a show of witnesses." Rosalie said.

_If those witnesses accept knowing that is against the Volturi._ Rosalie thought, to herself, though it'd been Emmett's, the idea wasn't that good.

Still, Esme seemed to not listen to Rose's sarcasm. "We can ask that much of our friends. Just to witness." She said nodding.

My mind was divided in two at that moment. I was listening to my family beginning to be completely in agreement to Emmett's idea, and to Alice considering it too but like a fact. The time was coming quickly on us, and if we would have to look for our _witnesses_, it had to be now.

"We'd do it for them." Emmett commented.

"We'll have to ask them just right. They'll have to be shown very carefully." Alice whispered after Emmett.

"Shown?" Jasper asked Alice, confused by the word she had chosen.

Alice turned to see Renesmee instead of answering, and I with her.

_This's got to work out, Edward. I can't see, you know, but it's got to work._

"Tanya's family," Alice started enlisting some of our friends and acquaintances that could help us with this. "Siobhan's coven. Amun's. Some of the nomads—Garrett and Mary for certain. Maybe Alistair."

_Maybe… well, I hope not, but,_ "What about Peter and Charlotte?" Jasper asked her, hoping that the answer were no, but knowing that they would be very useful.

"Maybe." Alice told him.

"The Amazons? Kachiri, Zafrina and Senna?" Carlisle asked.

Everyone started thinking about the acquaintances that could help us, and they thought would be willing to come.

Alice didn't answer, instead of that she focused on a vision that came suddenly to her, it seemed to have something to do with what Carlisle had said, and being a decision of Alice, maybe, for how it came to her mind as soon as he mentioned the Amazons.

I couldn't see right what Alice saw, she seemed decided for me to not see anything.

But, why?

Alice turned to see Carlisle who kept waiting for her to answer him.

She lowered her look before speaking. "I can't see." She answered him. To me it seemed like she was trying to prevent me from seeing the vision she just had. The only think I got to see was some of jungle, and I imagined that it was the Amazon or something close-by.

"What was that?" I asked her. I didn't understand why she didn't want me to see. What was she hiding? If it was something bad, I rather know. "That part in the jungle. Are we going to look for them?"

"I can't see." Alice repeated again, but her eyes never met mine. What they hell was going on? What was it that she couldn't tell me? "We'll have to split up and hurry—before the snow sticks to the ground. We have to round up whomever we can and get them here to show them. Ask Eleazar. There is more to this than just an immortal child."

Alice and everyone else became silent for a moment while we processed what we had just been told, and while I was trying to see the same thing that Alice was seeing in that moment.

Again, I couldn't see clearly her visions.

As soon as it appeared it seemed like Alice hurried to pass it through and leave it somewhere in her mind to see it later when no one else but her could. Jasper felt the confusion and turned to see me.

_I don't have any idea of her silence, either._ He assured me when he saw how Alice didn't allow me to see.

"There is so much." Alice began telling after blinking and left her visions hidden. "We have to hurry."

In that second I heard Jacob's thoughts getting closer towards they house, but I didn't have time to listen to what he was thinking.

But Alice wasn't going to leave me this way, she had to tell me what was happening, what she was hiding from me. "Alice? That was too fast – I didn't understand. What was-?"

"I can't see!" she answered me with a shout. "Jacob's almost here!" it seemed more like an excuse to not show me anything than an explanation.

_If it's because of that dog, no problem._ Rosalie thought while she took a step towards the front door to delightedly stop Jacob. "I'll deal with-"

"No, let him come." Alice told her while her voice raise in volume, tense. Then, she took Jasper's hand and I saw she'd go out with him. "I'll see better away from Nessie, too. I need to go. I need to really concentrate. I need to see everything I can. I have to go. Come on, Jasper, there's no time to waste!"

Alice was impatient to leave, but I wasn't sure if it was because she would see _better_ away from Nessie and Jacob or because she was trying to hide _better_ what she'd seen. Jacob was already on the porch stairs, he would get in at any moment; Alice, too knew it, so she pulled Jasper again so they would get out of the room as soon as possible. The same confusion that I was feeling, was feeling it Jasper by seeing the strange behavior of Alice. No one understood why she was acting that way, what could be happening for her to be acting so strange and tense, impatient.

Everyone, just like me, were wondering why she was insisting in that she could see anything, when, clearly, she had seen something in her visions.

At that moment, before anyone could say something, they walked out the door, and Alice said: "Hurry! You have to find them all!"

Jacob walked in through the front door, and having listened to Alice, he soon asked. "Find what? Where'd Alice go?"

None of us answered. I didn't know what was going through Bella's mind, but I was sure, that like everyone else, she didn't have any idea of how to explain Jacob what was happening, what would be very soon be happening, too soon.

I still had Bella and Renesmee in my arms, and for an instant Jacob didn't think of our position as strange nor the expression that my family still kept.

Now I could see what he had been thinking when he came to the house.

"Hey, Bells!" he said while he saw Renesmee, still asleep, on Bella's arms. "I thought you guys would've gone home by now..." his voice stopped, finally looking at Bella's expression.

_What? What is it? Nessie!_ I wanted to answer him, to tell him that everything was okay, that my daughter was fine. And she was, at least on what he meant, but I couldn't say anything, anyone could.

His worry calmed down a bit when he rested his eyes on the place where Alice had dropped the vase with the flowers, and he saw all the shattered glass and the mess left.

Still, Renesmee was her priority and his only concern.

"What? What happened?" Jacob asked, his voice was emotionless.

_How are we telling him?_ Esme wondered quickly, and then her question changed. _How are they telling him?_ Knowing that it was our obligation, whether it was Bella or me who would tell him.

When he saw no one answered him, Jacob got a momentary panic attack.

_What is it? Why aren't they telling me? Why don't you speak? Nessie?_

Without being able to stand it anymore, Jacob walked forward toward us and was on his knees in front of Bella and Renesmee after three long steps.

His hands were trembling with the fear of hearing an answer that were going to destroy him, that was something bad about Renesmee, that we had found out something in his absence of what he didn't have any idea yet. Still, even when I wanted to tell him that it wasn't anything of what he was fearing, I couldn't find my voice.

Renesmee seemed to react to the sound of Jacob's voice, in her dreams, his face was showing more often than a moment ago.

How to tell him, that it wasn't her accelerated growth that we should fear now, but the Volturi who were coming to destroy her, to destroy us all?

"Is she okay?" Jacob asked while he touched her forehead and listened to her heart, searching for some sign that told him why we were that way. "Don't mess with me, Bella, please!"

"Nothing's wrong with Renesmee." Bella finally spoke, but her voice was choking while she spoke. It was obvious the fear in it, but Jacob didn't notice.

"Then who?" Jacob insisted.

"All of us, Jacob." Bella explained to him, and her voice sounded exactly like my voice had sounded like when I told her there was no hope of stopping the Volturi. "It's over. We've all been sentenced to die."

_To die_, the words resounded in my head while I watched Renesmee's face.

I couldn't allow it, but, what could I do?

Suddenly, I knew that I would do whatever it took to save my daughter's life, because I couldn't allow that her life ended before it had even started.

Even if she were the only one in this world, she had to live.

We would find the way to save her.

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**And this chapter is dedicated to ****Wolfpup14, Reznil, munkijs, sholtsclaw698, missionarycook and katt. Thanks guys for your support!**


	30. Chapter 29, DEFECTION

**Hey everyone!**

**I'm so ashamed of coming back this late! I cannot even believe it. It took me like forever to finish with the translation of this chapter. I am so very sorry, you've no idea how much.**

**I can only hope that you enjoy this chapter so much, and you think it was worth the wait. =D**

**I'll try to have the next chapter sooner, at least in the next two weeks, cause after those two weeks, I'll be out of town again, but it'll be for less time, so... yeah.**

**Well, let's finish with the blah, blah blah. Go ahead and read!**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

**Enjoy, and review =D**

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CHAPTER 29. DEFECTION

Jacob barely heard those words, he became frozen for a few seconds.

Not even Rosalie had the necessary energy to think that Jacob should not be here or something like that, to even wish he left, or complain about his smell. Nobody was thinking anything, anything that wasn't what was coming on us. Everyone was wondering what would Alice see by leaving the house and search in the future whatever was possible for her, considering that this was about Renesmee; and by being about my daughter, the wolves would be involved. There was no other way, like Emmett had told Bella.

While Renesmee kept sleeping in Bella's arms, my eyes went from her face in less than a second to Bella's eyes.

In that second that our eyes met and stay together, it seemed to be the last one. I couldn't take my eyes off her look. I always knew that this lesson of life would end with Bella and her soul, but never, not even in my worst nightmares I had thought that it would be this way, and much less this soon. This was so much worse than what I had always feared. And what made it even worse, wasn't just losing my Bella, but our daughter, our Renesmee.

We seemed to be connected, we all were thinking in one thing: Renesmee.

And though I couldn't listen to Bella, I knew that that was her biggest concern, too. What else could we care about, that it wasn't Nessie's life?

Anything.

Everything else, everyone else were on second place.

Renesmee was just a baby, she was barely three-months-old, and in little more than a month they would be coming to destroy her. only four months of life? We couldn't allow that. What do everyone else matter, Carlisle had lived more than three hundred years; Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and I more than eighty years? Even Bella was barely starting to live. But it was different with Renesmee. There were so many things that she had to see, to learn, to feel...

As if Jacob knew that Renesmee was in my thoughts, his face relaxed a little bit and turned to see me, asking for an explanation more complete of what was happening. But I felt incapable of moving not even an inch and making my voice to come out of my lips.

Jacob noticed it, and he turned towards Carlisle.

"Could somebody tell me what's happening? What does Bella mean with _we're sentenced to die?_" Jacob asked, the tension filtering in his voice.

_Poor Jacob,_ Esme thought considering the reaction that he would have when he heard it all.

Hearing again the words made me getting tense. I felt the same reaction in Bella in front of me, her eyes got tense a bit.

_Well, Edward, I'll explain it to him. It seems that you can't, son._ Carlisle thought while he started ordering what happened to explain to Jacob how the situation was. Everyone knew that Jacob, after hearing to what he had to know, would be exactly the same as us.

_What are they waiting? Is it that bad?_ Jacob asked me, but again, I didn't answer him.

"Is someone gonna explain to me or what?"

His expression was already showing a bit of the frustration that I could see in his mind, this silence was beginning to bother him and freak him up a bit.

"Calm down, Jacob." Carlisle could barely say before taking a deep breath and start explaining to him.

Jacob nodded, and waited for him to start talking.

"I think you must remember Irina," Carlisle told him, Jacob nodded while he remembered several conversations and the concern that for a few days caused us Irina after seeing him in his wolf form that afternoon with Bella and Renesmee.

"I remember." Jacob said. "What's wrong with her?"

"Well, it would seem that Irina decided to go to Volterra and-"

"Volterra?" Jacob interrupted her, he turned to see Bella and said, "The place where Alice took you months ago, to save Edward?"

Bella, of course, didn't answer to him. None of us both even turned to see him.

Carlisle answered him. "That's right, Jacob."

At that moment, Jacob remembered something that Alice had told before leaving with Bella, something about the Volturi.

_"Yes. You're right, dog. The Volturi are the very essence of our kind—they're the reason your hair stands on end when you smell me. They are the substance of your nightmares, the dread behind your instincts. I'm not unaware of that."_

"Irina decided to go to them." Carlisle continued, even when it was obvious that he didn't want to continued, or at least telling him directly what was happening, without saying anymore.

"So?"

"They're coming to Forks, they're coming to finish off with our family. To finish off with Nessie." He said with a horrified tone.

"What? But, why?"

"Jacob, Irina thinks that Nessie is an immortal child; and in our world, it is forbidden the creation of an immortal child. The Volturi would come to impose the law about our family. To them, we've broken the law."

"But-"

"Alice saw it, Jacob. There's no way of preventing it." Carlisle interrupted him.

_No, it can't be. Nessie…_ Jacob was thinking, horrified this time, too while he saw the sleeping face of Renesmee.

He then remembered. "Find what? What did Alice mean when she left?"

Carlisle sighed. "We believe that if we get an enough number of friends to stop the Volturi-"

"Yes!" Jacob interrupted him, thinking that our goal was to fight against them. "Count with the pack, too. Of course."

"We're not fighting, Jacob." His face fell a bit, a mixture of anger and confusion. Carlisle continued to explain to him. "We only need our friends to stop them and make them listen. To see that Nessie isn't an immortal child, that we have not broken any law."

"Will that be enough? If it's not…"

"It will. We will know more when Alice comes back."

Carlisle seemed to freeze again, like the rest us. Even Jacob stayed pensive for a moment before reacting again.

_Immortal children? What's that bad about?_ He was wondering.

After a few minutes, he remembered something that he wished not having to see.

"_And it will be too young to follow any treaty. Remember the newborn vampires we fought? Wild, violent, beyond the reach of reason or restraint. Imagine one like that, but protected by the Cullens."_

The words repeated in his head several times, before he thought of Renesmee that way.

_But Nessie isn't like that. She doesn't even think on killing a human. She loves Charlie, she's never tried to hurt him, not even Sue. She can control herself, she won't tell them things with her magical touch. Why, then? Why would they want to kill her?_

That same question seemed to be repeating over and over again in the minds of my entire family, probably also in Bella's though I couldn't read it.

No one, like surely Irina and the Volturi believed, had broken any rule; much less that one.

It was difficult to process that this was really happening to us. I didn't understand what had we done, maybe just the fact of being monsters, made us deserve to not know or to not enjoy our happiness like a normal person would, to always have an impediment in front of us. But we had already survived to so many things; James, Laurent, Victoria; even the Volturi that time, though it was very different the way in which this situation was presented.

And more than anything, this time, I didn't have to have just Bella from them, but Renesmee, too.

But, how?

Jacob interrupted my thoughts, speaking again to Carlisle knowing that anyone else would give him answers.

"What's the problem, Carlisle? I mean about being an immortal child?"

Carlisle turned to see him, slowly. "You have no idea, Jacob, of the reason why the Volturi decided to forbid such creatures. Because to believe that us have created one, had caused that reaction on them." He stopped for a moment, and he took a deep breath. "Many years ago, there was an epoch in which the elders started to create vampires of two or even three-years-old. That time was much before I was even born."

No one reacted while Carlisle was explaining to Jacob about the immortal children, everyone knew the story and the reasons for its prohibition.

"It was a plague," Carlisle said, using the same words he had used to explain the same story to Bella months ago. "a plague of immortal children. No one knows – except the Volturi, maybe-" Bella shuddered slightly when she heard Carlisle mentioning the Volturi. "what the elders were thinking to create vampires from humans that were barely infants."

"Still, I don't get it." Jacob replied.

"The immortal children, Jacob, were very beautiful. So charming, that you just have to be close to them to love them. It was almost like with Nessie, you just have to see her to adore her. It was something automatic, it was like you didn't have more option."

"Still, with all the adorable they could get to be, with all the love that you could give them; there was no way of teaching them. They were frozen in whichever level of development they had reached before being bitten. They were as lethal and strong as anyone of us, they were little creatures capable of destroying half a village in one of their tantrums. There was no way of reasoning with them, there were no words of warning that could stop them; if they were hungry, they fed no matter if other human saw them and _survived_. The stories started circling, threatening our secret existence…

"Then, the Volturi got involved, of course. It couldn't have been any other way. The Volturi had reigned our worlds for over three millennia, and their only purpose is to keep our existence a secret. That you must know, Jacob; that was the reason that you had to leave so quickly months ago in the meadow, after the fight against the newborns.

"After a while, or rather, after having finished off with most of the immortal children in our world, Aro dedicated to study them in Volturi with Marcus and Caius; they tried to teach them, to make them reason, but nothing worked. Aro accepted that nothing could be done, that Caius was right when he said that the immortal children were incapable of protecting our secrets; and they all were destroyed at the end."

The silence dragged longer for a few seconds while Jacob processed the information that Carlisle had just given him.

"So, if they think Nessie is an immortal child…"

"They think she should be destroyed without even listening to us." Carlisle finished.

"But Nessie isn't." Jacob said, stubbornly, like Bella had said before a few moments ago.

"That we know, and our friends will know. Luckily, they will witness that in front of the Volturi, and we'll have an opportunity of saving Nessie and our family."

"That's easy. They'll realize they're wrong and they will leave."

"No, Jacob, it's not that easy."

Again, the silence dragged on.

There was a mixture of confusion in Jacob's mind, that made me not understand at first why it took him so much time to decide leaving the house and phased into wolf to inform both packs what was happening. Jacob had stayed on his knees in front of us three, his eyes fixated on Renesmee's face: the entire time battling with the idea of getting away from her – even if it was just to let Sam and Leah know, respectively – and stay by her side and protect her.

At the end, obviously, he realized that for now, it wouldn't happen anything to Renesmee; that she was protected by us, and that according to what Alice had said, the danger wouldn't come until a month from now.

He got up off the floor without saying anything, he knew that I had been hearing everything going through his mind, and seeing the position in which everyone else were, no one would bother in raising their faces towards him and ask him where he was going to or what he was going to do.

_I'll be right back, I won't be far, just here outside. Sam and everyone else need to know what we are going to be facing against._

He shook his head when he saw that he didn't get an answer, and walked out the front door.

No one wondered where Jacob went.

I had always believed, even before considering the idea that Bella knew what I really was, the nightmare and the horror that would be seeing the face of Bella with her chocolate brown eyes turned into a brilliant red; but in these moments, considering the idea that, probably, these weeks would be the last one I would have to see her face, her eyes, I didn't care what color they were, it seemed to me like a dream to be seeing her, I could spend the eternity this way.

But knowing that now we didn't have eternity any more than just a month, I didn't allow myself to take my eyes away from Bella.

I listened to Jacob changing his form just like everyone else, with the difference that only me could listen to what was happening.

Still, anyone asked.

Seth and Leah, Quil and Embry were on their way to home, Jacob had told them that there was something too important to tell them; he had decided that as soon as they arrived, he would ask Sam and everyone else to gather round to give them the bad news.

Seth was the most anxious to get there and know what was happening, knowing that it would have something to do with our family and Renesmee. There wasn't much that caused that tension to Jacob.

Besides they could read the fear in his mind.

Jacob's pack arrived faster that what I would have thought possible. There were no regards or anything between them, the first thing I heard, as if it were an echo: _what's going on?_

Jacob explained to them the same thing that Carlisle had told him, letting them see between words the image of Carlisle while he was explaining the situation to Jacob. How bad things were, and dangerous more than anything; mostly to Renesmee.

Everyone got alert immediately. Just like I had expected. Renesmee was just as much a family of them, as it was of us. They couldn't allow anything to happen to her, they would fight for her as we would.

Just like Emmett had said.

Even when they couldn't listen to what the pack was talking about, anyone asked me; because they knew that Jacob was making them know that a war was getting closer.

I looked at the beautiful face of my daughter while I was listening to Jacob and the others talking about war, and I couldn't imagine her in the middle of such situation, I could not imagine how someone so small and good could be the cause of such reaction, even more when she hadn't done anything wrong, even when she was not even a creation of us, no in that sense.

It was only a creation, or rather, the fruit of the love that Bella and I had for each other. The words sounded strange, I had always wondered what meaning did it have in truth; but now, having Bella and Renesmee, I understood them better.

The pack nodded to Jacob when he asked them if it was time to tell Sam and the others what was happening.

Before two seconds passed, Jacob was already calling Sam out; that luckily was on his wolf shape.

In this occasion, Jacob wouldn't have gone away from Renesmee to look for Sam, he would have sent any of the other wolves to look for him; he didn't want to get away from Renesmee. Just this few miles of distance from her got him nervous, he didn't want to imagine how much would it cost him to run up to La Push or wherever it was Sam. How could he be sure that Sam was in La Push with Emily? Though he knew he probably was. He didn't want to take the risk.

After a few second, Sam, Paul and Jared were on their way to meet with Jacob.

Somehow, they were excessively worried. After all, what would Jacob call them with so much urgency and no previous warning for?

As soon as they sprinted into the front lawn, where the other wolves were waiting for Sam and the others, Jacob started explaining to them what was happening. Sam's and everyone else's eyes widened out of impression when they heard the situation. Their thoughts immediately went to Renesmee, knowing that the main worry of Jacob was her.

And that made it the main worry for them, too.

It wasn't more than five minutes for Sam and the others to be already back to La Push to inform everyone else of what was happening, too.

Jacob and Sam agreed to stay on their wolf form the most possible tonight, at least. Jacob and his pack would get together and talk to agree with some points, they would make a strategy at the same time that Sam and his pack, would interchange ideas and would agree with those between the two packs.

As soon as Sam and the others two left, Jacob asked Seth and Leah to keep him informed about what they planned to talk to Sam, he would be inside of the house.

Jacob walked in, still in his wolf form. The smell was strong, but it barely bothered us this day.

The voices of my family started to sound all of a sudden in my mind.

_What's going on? Where's Alice?_ Rosalie was wondering, a little bit upset that Alice were taking so much time to be back and tell us what she knew.

_We would fight, don't even think those Volturi that they're going to finish us off without fighting. _Emmett was starting to make strategy, just like the wolves. Even when he knew that there was little chance of winning if this got to a fight.

Carlisle wouldn't even consider the idea of a war, he trust too much on that Alice's plan would work out, and Esme seemed to be more in sync with him. _Alice's plan will work out, we cannot lose our family. They will hear us out._

Jacob was staring at Renesmee, worrying so much as anyone of us.

However, not even once did it cross through his mind the idea of that Renesmee would never reach a mature age, the mature age in which she would be with him like more than just a friend so a brother like it was now. The only thing he was worried about was that Renesmee wouldn't get to grow up and live, to have the opportunity of being happy by her family's side and her friends', him. Of losing the chance of smiling again.

I was afraid of admitting that I was impressed. But the fear that was invading me when listening to his fear, that was the same fear of everyone else, made it impossible to think too much on that.

And if Alice didn't come back soon and tell us what she'd seen, if there was even just one little hope of us surviving this, I supposed that never, in the future, would I have to worry again about the future that was awaiting to my daughter with Jacob.

After a while, I saw Jacob turning to see me, his eyes ran all over my face, then Bella's and for last he kept staring for a long while to Renesmee's face.

His eyes didn't stray from her, more than two hours probably passed before his eyes started blinking heavily; the sleepiness was getting the best of him until his eyes finally closed to not open again, a snore – at first low – started to fill the silence from the room. The breathing and heartbeats of both of them, Renesmee and Jacob, were the only life in the house.

And that was how it had to keep being, even when Bella and I stopped existing. Because I wouldn't be able to keep existing if she didn't, I would not survive; and I knew that Bella felt the same way. There had to be some way of succeeding on Renesmee surviving.

I wished with all my will to find the answer.

They seemed to be in sync, Renesmee's and Jacob's dreams; for a while, the only faces that I was seeing in their dreams, were each other's.

I couldn't blame them, nor it could make me feel bad at this moment; the only thing I had in mind was the fierce desire of keeping them alive, besides had I been in their places, Bella's face would have been in my mind.

The short hours of the night passed slowly that they seemed to be making it just to upset us or to increase our anxiety. My mind seemed to look over slowly into everyone of my family's mind. They seemed to still be on sync, there wasn't much to see, every one of their questions became mine if I hadn't considered them before. How, where the hell was Alice? I could tell that Rosalie was the one who was the most upset about Alice's absence, but at the same time she was worrying about her lateness. No one understood the reason. On the other side, it was the first time that I couldn't quite recognize the emotions that were possibly running through Bella, and without being able to read her mind and without Jasper here, I couldn't be sure that we were on the same channel. Though, it was very likely that we were.

What other concerns could Bella have? Besides the obvious ones.

While the sun was rising, and the sun rays were starting to penetrate through the back windows, another thought shot through my mind. Again, I was wondering, now seriously worried, where was Alice, and what could she possible be doing or seeing that were taking her so much time.

The sunlight hitting my skin made it to start glittering, I could see the reflection hitting Bella's skin before her own skin shined, too.

Her eyes were still staring into mine, they hadn't moved an inch from my eyes; just like mine hadn't.

I knew that Renesmee had to live, I knew it. But, what would I do if Bella didn't survive? That was a silly question, even ridiculous. I knew, like everyone else, what would happen if Bella didn't survive, my faith would be the same one that hers. I would never allow myself to keep breathing a different air than my Bella. We had to be together, though at the end were in the form of ashes.

I didn't mind.

The sunlight shined in her skin finally, and it was such a beautiful image…

I immediately reacted, as if the sun were melting down the ice and cold from my body.

"Alice." I only whispered. What else could I say?

Everyone moved somehow after that, even Bella. Their expressions became a little bit softer, less inhuman.

_It's been so many hours. What can be taking them so long?_ Carlisle was wondering.

While Rosalie showed her surprise aloud. "She's been gone a long time."

Esme was, maybe, as surprised as Rosalie, but didn't say anything about it.

Emmett was almost desperate for the lack of news, and was already considering the option of going out of the house immediately and go looking for Alice and Jasper. "Where could she be?" he said while he walked forward toward the door.

Esme stopped him quickly, putting a hand on his arm to do so. "We don't want to disturb…"

_Disturb what? C'mon!_ Emmett though, exasperated now.

Emmett was right, as much as Rosalie and Carlisle were. Esme was the only one who was thinking that Alice was probably still trying to see the most she could. But I knew that there wasn't much anything she could actually see. Not while it was about Renesmee. Much less now that the wolves were also involved, now more than before.

"She's never taken so long." I said, everyone else agreed with me in their minds. Had something happened to her or perhaps she'd seen something that she didn't even want _us_ to know about? "Carlisle, you don't think – something preemptive? Would Alice have had time to see if they sent someone for her?" I asked, now more worried than before. I had listened to Aro's mind when I showed him my memories, my thoughts when I had asked him to finish with my existence in Volterra, he had seen it all, including the talents of my family. But the one he desired the most, he coveted the most, was Alice's. He had never seen anything like it.

Emmett started cursing, his voice was loud that cause Jacob to wake up immediately and got up, a growl coming out of his mouth.

_Let's go now!_ I heard Emmett thinking, at the same time that I heard Jacob and the voices of his pack in his mind when they heard him. _What? What's happening?_ He thought, a little bit scared.

I ran out through the door without even giving Jacob a chance of realizing that anything dangerous or wrong was happening, or him asking me about it and I having to answer him.

Maybe I should have imagined it, but I didn't. I thought Bella would stay home, Renesmee was still asleep in her arms; I was about to come back when I felt a pang of panic when I left her behind, when I listened to her setting down Renesmee on the couch and yelling at Jacob before leaving: "Stay with Renesmee!"

_Where are you Alice?_ Esme was wondering, her mental tone was leaning towards the sadness as it was expected. She didn't like having her family apart, even when the separation were temporary.

Rosalie and Emmett were just wondering where we would find them, and what new would they have for us.

I heard Bella running out of the house a few short seconds after we did. Jacob, being alone in the house and with Renesmee completely asleep, changed his form immediately to wolf, I knew it because I could still listen to Seth and Leah.

_If anything happens, or you listen to something weird, howl, I'll change in that same moment._ Jacob asked them before changing back to human.

I knew that Renesmee would be awake soon, and I didn't know how much long would it take us to come back.

Carlisle was by my side while we were running, Emmett was just a couple of meters behind. Bella was getting closer quickly toward us, passing past Esme and Rosalie with just a few steps.

"Would they have been able to surprise her?" Carlisle asked me.

"I don't see how. But Aro knows her better than anyone else. Better than I do." I told him, wishing that that wasn't the case.

_She could've at least told us, there's something weird in all of this._ Emmett was considering.

"Is this a trap?" Emmett asked.

"Maybe," I told him, while I was trying to find something more than Alice and Jasper's smell, but there was nothing. Where were they? Even when we were following their smell, I couldn't make myself to hear anyone of them both. "There's no scent but Alice and Jasper. Where were they going?"

_To the east?_

We all followed the scent to the east, then this one turned towards the north passing through the river.

_Where did they go?_

When we crossed the river, the scent changed direction towards the west again. We again crossed the river, and I heard Esme before she said it.

"Did you catch that scent?" Esme asked, pointing to the southeast.

Everyone had smelled it, but before anyone commented anything. "Keep to the main trail-" I told them while I was already starting to smell the scent of the wolves. "we're almost to the Quileute border. Stay together. See if they turned north or south."

Carlisle and I slowed down our pace while we were getting closer to the border that we could not cross over due to treaty.

I could see how Carlisle's head were turning to the side and to the other side just like mine were, waiting that the smell changed paths. It never did.

_It can't go on straight. She couldn't have crossed unless…_ his words passed to second place in the moment that I heard other three people's thoughts that were now with us. The scent of werewolf became stronger as they approached us.

_Here they come._ Sam thought.

I stopped without thinking. Why was he here?

_What? What is it?_ Emmett was asking, alarmed.

"Sam? What is this?" I asked, but Sam didn't have any intentions of speaking to me.

Instead of insisting and making him speak to me instead of with Carlisle, I put attention to his thoughts to see what was it that had him here, in his human form and it seemed, waiting for us.

For a short second, my mind didn't process the information that I was seeing in the mind of Sam.

In _my_ mind, were only spinning around the words: _she's gone, Alice's gone._

Then I saw it.

Before Sam had advanced at least ten steps, I had already heard it all the necessary stuff to not have to listen to what he had to tell us.

Alice had gone away, and Jasper with her.

_Why is Sam here?_ I heard Carlisle asking me, but I was too much lost into Sam's memories of the moment in which Alice had come to leave. What I didn't know, for how long was she leaving.

I didn't even want to think that it was forever.

While Sam was walking towards us, I was seeing what had happened.

Alice and Jasper ran to them, I could see them hand-in-hand. Their expression were serious, but at the same time, sad.

"_Sam?"_ Alice called into the darkness.

After a few second, Sam appeared out of the threes when he heard his name. The same wolves that were now with him, they were with him at that moment, Paul and Jared.

In his human form, knowing that it had to be that way when it came to Alice and not me, he told her. _"Alice Cullen?"_

"_Yes, it's me. And Jasper."_ Alice told him, his tone showed a bit of impatience.

"_What are you doing here?"_ Sam asked her, his eyes resting for a second on the Quileute border.

"_Ah, yes. We need a favor, and it's of big importance that you grant it to us."_

"_Why? What's happening?"_ Alice frowned when Sam asked her that.

"_We don't have time to give explanations. Really. We just need your permission to cross your land and into the ocean. Please?"_

Alice's face seemed to get more and more impatient with every passing second and she didn't get an answer. _"Fine. But we will escort you to the coast."_

"_Sure."_ Alice said to him, her tone relieved while she nodded.

Alice and Jasper crossed the line at that moment, and they sprinted off by Sam's side and the wolves'. While they ran towards the ocean, Alice talked to Sam again.

"_Sam? We need you to not tell absolutely anything about this to Jacob. Carlisle and the other ones would come to look for us, you have to wait for them where we met, and give them this."_ Alice explained while she handed him a piece of paper. A note, surely.

Sam took the note in his hands, and before Alice and Jasper got into the water, Alice told him, _"Please, Sam, obey every one of my instructions as if all our lives depend on this. Will you?"_ her tone showed a bit of skepticism.

And though Sam was confused, he nodded. _"Of course, Alice. I will."_

"_Thank you."_ Was the last thing Sam heard from her, after that, Jasper and Alice got into the water and soon were out of his range of sight.

In his mind, it seemed that Sam had waited for several hours for Alice and Jasper to come back.

They never did.

Sam stopped, then, in front of Carlisle, without his eyes straying from his eyes for not even one moment to my face, knowing that the surest thing, was that I already knew what he was going to tell to him.

"Right after midnight, Alice and Jasper came to this place" – Sam started explaining, his voice was monotonous, and his face was expressionless. – "and asked permission to cross our land to the ocean."

_What?_ I heard the echo of four thoughts in shock.

"I granted them that and escorted them to the coast myself. They went immediately into the water and did not return. As we journeyed, Alice told me it was of the utmost importance that I say nothing to Jacob about seeing her until I spoke to you. I was to wait here for you to come looking for her and then give you this note. She told me to obey her as if all our lives depended on it."

Sam gave Carlisle the piece of paper that he had in his hand. I narrowed my eyes when the smell of Bella hit me.

While Carlisle was reading, I was doing the same thing in his mind.

_Don't look for us. _The note read in Alice's authentic handwriting._ There isn't time to waste. Remember: Tanya, Siobhan, Amun, Alistair, all the nomads you can find. We'll seek out Peter and Charlotte on our way. We're so sorry that we have to leave you this way, with no goodbyes or explanations. It's the only way for us. We love you._

Carlisle was frozen for a short half a second before he was able to speak again. Everyone expected him to say something, that he explained the reason why Sam was here, and was saying, mostly, the note that Alice had left.

_Can someone tell us what happens?_ Emmett growled, knowing that I took knew what was happening.

Esme, always worried about her family, seemed to already know what the note read.

"Alice has decided to leave us." Carlisle finally said.

"What?" Rosalie whined.

_How is that possible? No, it can't be…_

At that moment Carlisle turned around and showed them the note to everyone so they would read it.

The words that I had just read repeated in my mind over and over again, making them worse than before.

_We're so sorry…_

_We love you._

_There isn't time to waste._

_It's the only way for us._

The only way? For us? would it be truth what I had suspected? Alice would have seen that they sent someone for her?

While everyone were thinking about what was happening, about what it meant that Alice had left us, the silence reigned for a long moment, making the wolves to think with more seriousness on what my sister had told them.

"_Please, Sam, obey every one of my instructions as if all our lives depended on this. Will you?"_

Then, his thoughts were back again to a few couple of hours after Alice and Jasper had left, in his mind the form of Jacob, Seth and Leah as wolves appeared in his mind.

_Sam? We're in trouble._ Jacob had told him with urgency.

Quickly Sam got tensed. _What's happening, Jacob?_ His mind, without thinking, went to Alice and what she had said. He still didn't find the connection, he knew they were connected.

_Renesmee._ He only said. _She's in danger. Someone is coming soon for her, they want to kill… hurt her._ Jacob changed his word between gasps when he couldn't, not even consider, that option.

_What? What do you mean?_

_It doesn't matter, we only have to prepare. There will be war. The Cullens will be doing it soon, too._

Sam nodded. _Of course. You know that we will not let anything to hurt Nessie, either. We will prepare for whatever it comes._

For a moment, Sam was distracted, remembering what Jacob had told him, finding the connection between both things.

_Is it that dangerous the situation, that Alice left them?_

"Yes, things are that dangerous." I answered Sam.

But I knew, I wasn't sure why, that Alice had not left because she was afraid or because she knew we would not survive this fight. Something was telling me that there was another reason, but of course, I didn't have any way of knowing which was it.

Very deeply, a little part of me was telling me that it was indeed because we didn't have any chances. Alice left us to not come back.

I tried to shut down that side of me that was becoming stronger every time.

"Enough that you would abandon your family?" Sam asked. He hadn't read the letter, so he hadn't been sure of why Alice's orders.

_I shouldn't have listened to her. That little bloodsucker. I thought the Cullen family was very close? I though they loved one and another. At least that's what it seemed. Now I realize it wasn't. You can not trust a bloodsucker._ Sam was thinking, his last words brought my mind to the memory of a few months ago, when Jacob was the one who uttered them.

_She's an insensitive, what could you expect? Insensitive or a coward. There's no other way…_

I didn't want to believe anything of what Sam believed, I knew it wasn't like that.

"We don't know what she saw." I told him, trying to get on Alice's side, of understanding why she had done thing, and of Sam to stop thinking that way. "Alice is either insensitive nor a coward. She just has more information than we do."

"We would not-" Sam started saying, and I interrupted him before he continued.

Alice had not done that. She hadn't done it. Had she?

"You are bound differently than we are. We each still have our free will." I told him, maybe a bit more brusquely than what it should have been necessary.

_Mhmm._ Sam snorted silently. The wolves seemed to think exactly as he did.

"But you should heed the warning. This is not something you want to involve

yourselves in." I told them, remembering with who we would be facing to. It was nothing similar to the newborns they had helped us with. "You can still avoid what Alice saw."

Sam smiled, in a dark way. "We don't run away."

The wolf named Paul snorted behind him. _Not like others, not like _Alice.

The other one, Jared, kept quiet, but thinking the same way in which Sam was expressing himself and thinking, also Paul.

"Don't get your family slaughtered for pride." Carlisle said, trying to take away some of tension. But it was the wrong way of trying to keep them _safe_.

I heard Esme starting to sob when she heard what Carlisle had said, thinking that our family would end in the slaughterhouse, too and then in Alice and Jasper that had abandoned us. to her, nothing could get worse.

Sam turned to see Carlisle, and his features seemed to lose a little bit of his roughness before him. It was just like it had happened to Jacob, it was difficult to see Carlisle as a vampire, a heartless monster. "As Edward pointed out, we don't have the same freedom that you have. Renesmee is as much as part of our family, as she is yours. Jacob cannot abandon her, and we cannot abandon her." Sam chose very carefully his words, while he turned to see the note that Alice had left us.

He thought, as he had thought before, that Alice was really a heartless monster, an insensitive for having left us in our worst moment, or she was a coward.

"You don't know her." I told him, noting too late that they were the wrong words, too.

"Do you?" Sam asked.

_Son, calm._ Carlisle told me, putting a hand on my shoulder to stop me. _You cannot lose your calm. Sam doesn't know what he says, he only sees what happens from outside…_

"We have much to do, son." The three wolves snorted inwardly when they heard Carlisle calling me son. "Whatever Alice's decision, we would be foolish not to follow her advice now. Let's go home and get to work."

Esme's sobbing were going louder, even Sam and the other ones noticed.

Carlisle, in a hurry, or rather getting Esme out of here and distract her, he had more hurry than before to get our here and go home.

He turned to see Sam and told him, "Thank you."

"I'm sorry," was Sam's answer, regretting having allowed Alice to cross the border instead of having stopped her or something. "We shouldn't have let her through."

"You did the right thing. Alice is free to do what she will. I wouldn't deny her that liberty." Carlisle said.

I turned towards Bella, she had been the quietest of everyone, considering that she was the only one who I couldn't see inside her mind.

Her face, in the short seconds that I watched her, was so different from those of my family.

Everyone else, felt hope, believed and wanted to believe that everything would work out well, that what Alice had told us to do and Emmett's plan would work out somehow. That everything would turned out well at the end and that the Volturi would leave us alone. They were even anxious to get home so they would be able to get in motion and start doing everything that was necessary. On the contrary, Bella's face showed all the opposite, and it hurt me to see her that way. Of seeing that, it seemed, she didn't have hope, that she was thinking that this was our end. The despair in her eyes was obvious, and painful.

I wondered, momentarily, if Alice thought the same thing and that was why she'd gone away.

Luckily, Emmett interrupted my thoughts.

"I'm not going down without a fight." Emmett snarled, extremely anxious to start whatever it had to be done. "Alice told us what to do. Let's get it done."

_We won't make it any easy for them, brother._ Emmett told me, thinking on Renesmee and how every one of us would fight because at the end, she were completely save.

We all nodded, but I could see that Bella didn't. it seemed like she had stayed in sort of a state of shock or hadn't understood what Emmett had just said. The same despair that I had seen a moment ago, was still plain in her face.

We all turned around, leaving Sam, Paul and Jared behind us.

Near the river, Esme raised her head to mention once again the other trail that we had found while we were looking for Alice before we ran into Sam.

"There was that other trail. It was fresh." Esme said, her face pointing toward the place.

"It has to be from earlier in the day." I told her while I noticed that the scent of Jasper wasn't mixed with Alice's. "It was just Alice, without Jasper." I told Esme.

Her face fell down a bit, she had had the hope of what Sam had told us were just a trick of something similar. When I told her that, was like telling her once again that Alice had abandoned us. She just nodded, and kept running.

At that same instant, I heard Bella stopping and starting to turn towards the right way, falling behind us. And before my mind even registered that, my body was already stopped.

"Bella?" my voice seemed dead, it did not show the anxiety that was threatening with invading me inside.

"I want to follow the trail." Bella explained to me.

Why? I thought, but any kind of sound came out of my mouth. "It probably just leads back to the house."

Her next words surprised me a little bit. "Then I'll meet you there."

I had not even considered the idea of letting her leave alone, even if I had not felt that agony when I saw her advancing towards the right way without even asking me to go with her or telling me something else. I wasn't sure of what I expected her to do.

I felt a known panic when I saw her moving away from mer. How could I live without seeing her, though it were just a few minutes, in this situation?

My feet moved towards her without needing to order it. It was almost a reflex reaction.

"I'll come with you." I told her, now I was trying to keep my voice calmed. "We'll meet you at home, Carlisle."

_Very good, son._ Carlisle thought while he nodded. Then they all left.

Bella didn't say anything until everyone else were out of our sight. She put her eyes on my face and I could see the question in them.

"I couldn't let you walk away from me." I told her, expecting her to understand my reaction. "It hurt just to imagine."

Understanding filled her eyes while I was speaking. Then, I saw a blink of pain while she considered my words, and I knew that she would have felt the same way that I did, and more than anything, that she understood my reaction.

Bella outstretched her hand, and I took it. "Let's hurry. Renesmee will be awake." I told her.

Bella nodded and we took off running, following the trail that Esme had noticed. And each time that we advanced it became more confusing.

Where was Alice going? To our house?

Obviously the trail had been left after they had gone out of the house to not coming back again.

But again, the trail was too much remote from the house and the Quileute border, and only Alice was who had been here. I didn't understand what Alice had been doing alone, leaving Jasper in another place before leaving definitely.

Something I did know, the note had been written in a sheet from one of Bella's book, but, why?

"She left Jasper to wait for her and came here?" I wondered to myself aloud, as if that way, someone were going to give me the answer.

Unfortunately, the answer didn't come to me. Instead of that, more confusion.

I couldn't understand why Alice had done this, what had been her reason for coming to our house and without Jasper. What was she hiding from us? I didn't have any way of knowing it, and maybe, it would remain a secret for a long time.

Just thinking about it put a lump in my throat.

When we got home, Bella released my hand and told me. "Give me just a minute."

"Bella?" my forehead frowned, considering why Bella wanted to get in there alone.

"Please? Thirty seconds?" was everything she said, then she walked into our house, leaving the door closed behind her.

One second…

I didn't understand what was Bella trying to do behind my back. Why would she want to keep a secret from me? Did it have to do with Alice?

It was extremely difficult for me to stand that short time.

Two seconds…

Three seconds…

I heard Bella walking into the living room of our cottage, the fire from the chimney was set on. I didn't remember having left fire on it this morning.

Four seconds…

Five seconds…

Six seconds…

Bella had taken a book from the bookshelf. I heard her opening it, and surely reading something from it.

Seven seconds…

Eight seconds…

I wasn't sure of why Bella had left me here outside of the house to read a book. What did that mean? What reason would Bella have to do that?

Nine seconds…

Ten seconds…

Eleven seconds…

Before I were able to keep guessing and going almost crazy when trying to understand Bella's behavior, of matching the pieces. It seemed that there was something that I was missing, something that I was missing to understand what was happening. I was still trying to reach a conclusion of why Alice had left Jasper to come here alone.

I heard a book falling, and it seemed that it was into the, fire?

Twelve seconds…

Thirteen seconds…

Without being able to wait for another second more, much less the seventeen second that were left to do what Bella had asked me to, I walked into the house, without even bothering on closing the door behind me, I didn't even think on doing it, too anxious.

When I walked into the room where Bella was, her back was to me, her face was looking into the chimney. The book was burning up quickly.

"What's going on, Bella?" I asked her, when she didn't react to my entrance.

"She was here." Bella said. "She ripped a page out of my book to write her note on."

That I had imagined since the moment in which we got here, after all, I had noticed the scent of Bella when Sam gave Carlisle the note.

What I didn't understand was the reason why, but maybe Bella did… "Why?"

"I don't know why."

That and that she were burning the book confused me even more. I didn't understand what was happening.

"Why are you burning it?" I asked her.

"I-I-" Bella hesitated, her forehead wrinkling. Suddenly, her face filled with pain and frustration for some reason I couldn't understand.

This day was being a bad one, today everything seemed to escape me. I didn't understand anything.

Finally, Bella answered. "It seemed appropriate."

"We don't know what she's doing." I whispered. At least I, and everyone else, had no idea. I wasn't so sure about Bella. But it seemed like she didn't have idea of what her plans were, either.

Without turning to see me, she kept her eyes down in the fire and said. "When we were on the plane to Italy, on our way to rescue you…" I shuddered slightly when I remembered that day. Bella didn't notice. "she lied to Jasper so that he wouldn't come after us. She knew that if he faced the Volturi, he would die. She was willing to die herself rather than put him in danger. Willing for me to die, too. Will for you to die."

That I knew, but it didn't convince me that Alice would have left this time because of Jasper. We were too many the ones involved in this fight as for Jasper to be the only one to be hurt.

I was trying to convince myself that perhaps it would indeed have been because of Jasper, but at the same time, also convincing myself that Alice wouldn't have left us without saying anything. Why not explaining to him then? Why not leaving said the reason of her abandonment to us?

Bella spoke again. "She has her priorities."

"I don't believe it," I whispered, trying to convince myself that everything that Bella was saying didn't have any sense really. No, I told myself, it cannot be possible. Maybe what I had thought was what had happened, it had to be. "Maybe it was just Jasper in danger." I said my _theory_ aloud, maybe Bella would support it. "Her plan would work for the rest of us, but he'd be lost if he stayed. Maybe…"

"She could have told us that. Sent him away." Bella said, interrupting me.

"But would Jasper have gone? Maybe she's lying to him again."

"Maybe." Bella agreed with me, it seemed. There was a light defensiveness in her tone and in her eyes. "We should go home. There's no time."

Bella was right. I let my suspicions passed and took her hand to leave.

During out way back to the house, where everyone else was waiting for us, Bella didn't pronounce a single word, but I was noticing that she was really focused on something. There was no way that I could know what was on her mind at that moment, but it was something _complicated_, because the little V that appeared between her eyebrows was there while we were running. It drove me mad not being able to know what was going through her mind.

I tried not to think what it was that Bella was hiding from me, because it seemed to be that she was hiding something from me. But what could it be that she couldn't tell me?

Half our way back, I could already listen to my family. Everyone was already ready to go out at any moment, and Renesmee was already awake. Jacob had her in his lap, and they were watching every movement my family made.

I growled inwardly when I listened that Renesmee already knew what was happening. Not completely.

Jacob had told her, he had tried to explain to her what was happening when everyone else arrived and they started planning the trip immediately; and Rosalie and Esme had changed clothes. He hadn't told her the complete truth: that there _people_ who would come _discuss_ with us, that was why Carlisle and everyone else would go to that trip to look for some friends to help us.

No, he had not told her the truth to not scare her, but it was close. Too much.

I hated that there was no way, because of the imprinting thing, that Jacob hid her or deny her something to Renesmee. I understood him a little bit, because there wasn't anything to me either that I could deny to Bella.

We walked into the room, and the first thing that Bella noticed was Jacob and Renesmee in a corner, then her eyes looked over the room towards the globe that was on the table. Rosalie and Esme walked into the room, ready to leave at the right moment.

Then I saw it, "We're to stay here?" I asked Carlisle. I didn't like at all the idea of us staying behind, without doing _anything_.

"Alice said we would have to show people Renesmee," Carlisle reminded me. "and we would have to be careful about it. We'll send whomever we can find back here to you – Edward, you'll be the best at fielding that particular minefield."

_I know you understand what I mean, son._ Carlisle thought carefully.

I nodded, he was right. I had to accept it though I didn't like it. But it would be difficult that only four of them could find enough friends in such a short time. "There's a lot of ground to cover."

"We're splitting up," Emmett explained. "Rose and I are hunting for nomads."

"You'll have your hands full here," Carlisle reminded again, trying to convince me that staying here was better than going and showing Renesmee to whoever we were running into. Again, he was absolutely right. "Tanya's family will be here in the morning, and they have no idea why. First, you have to persuade them not to react the way Irina did." Carlisle started telling me what I had to do. "Second, you've got to find out what Alice meant about Eleazar. Then, after all that, will they stay to witness for us? It will start again as the others come—if we can persuade anyone to come in the first place." Carlisle stopped, sighing while he considered the terrible option of not persuading anyone else. "Your job may well be the hardest. We'll be back to help as soon as we can."

Carlisle came to me, then he put his hand on my shoulder. _We'll see each other soon, son. Let's hope that everything will work out as we planned._ I nodded quickly, and half smiled. Then Carlisle moved to Bella and placed a quick kiss on her forehead.

Esme hugged us both, and told me, _Take care of them, of both your girls, Edward. We'll be back soon, dear._

Emmett, of course, dedicated us a playful punch on both our arms. _You'll miss the fun, brother. At least I'll get to hunt something different these days._

Rosalie just smiled at both of us, forcefully; it seemed that it was taking her a hard time to say goodbye. For someone that couldn't read minds it would seem that she was doing it because she had to, but she wasn't. _I'll miss you. Well, take care of Nessie, Edward._ Rosalie, then, turned toward Renesmee when she was leaving, and flew her a kiss, and she smiled.

_Goodbye, Aunt Rose._ Was thinking Renesmee when she saw her leaving.

And to Jacob, she dedicated him a grimace. _At least I won't have to smell him these days._

_Goodbye, Blondie._ Jacob thought when Rosalie grimaced at him when leaving.

"Good luck." I told them before they were gone.

"And to you," Carlisle responded. "We'll all need it."

The four of them left the house, then. Soon, I could not listen to their thoughts. The room was silent for a moment.

The sound of Renesmee moving distracted us and brought our attention to her.

Renesmee moved so she would reach Jacob's cheek. I saw the question in her mind before Jacob did.

_Will the grandpa's friends come?_ Renesmee asked, a little bit anxious and worried.

That was exactly why I would not have told anything to Renesmee, or would have told her in a way that didn't worry her, at least.

"I don't know if Carlisle's friends will come." Jacob answered to her, honestly. "I hope so. Sounds like we're a little outnumbered right now."

Renesmee considered for a few second what Jacob had told her, and touched his cheek again.

_Why didn't we go with them? Can't we help them?_

"No, we can't help;" Jacob explained to her. "we've got to stay here. People are coming to see you, not the scenery."

Renesmee frowned, and she asked him, a little bit more anxious than before.

_But, you don't have to leave, do you?_

"No, I don't have to go anywhere."

_Or that's what I think…_

Jacob turned to see me, suddenly worried that he were wrong.

And here I was between a rock and a hard place.

"Do I?" Jacob asked, worried.

I considered for an instant the answer to that, I wasn't sure of what would be better in this case. I hated to make Renesmee unhappy, and keeping them away from each other was sure to provoke it. But on the other side…

"Just spit it out," Jacob _demanded_. He didn't have energy to be rude or something like that.

It seemed like both, Renesmee and Jacob, felt the same tension while they were waiting for my answer.

"The vampires who are coming to help us are not the same as we are," I started explaining to him. "Tanya's family is the only one besides ours with a reverence for human life, and even they don't think much of werewolves." Even when I knew that they weren't. I wouldn't get to explain that now. "I think it might be safer—"

"I can take care of myself." Jacob interrupted me before I said to whom would it be safer.

"Safer for Renesmee, if the choice to believe our story about her is not tainted by an association with werewolves."

"Some friends. They'd turn on you just because of who you hang out with now?"

Mm, it could be. But I didn't mean that.

"I think they would mostly be tolerant under normal circumstances. But you need to understand—accepting Nessie will not be a simple thing for any of them. Why make it even the slightest bit harder?"

The conversation from last night, with Carlisle, when I explained to him what they were and why they were so feared and punished the immortal children crossed Jacob's mind, considering it from another point of view very different. "The immortal children were really that bad?"

"You can't imagine the depth of the scars they've left in the collective vampire psyche."

"Edward..." Jacob whispered.

There was no need yet for him to stay away, possibly from Renesmee, and the pain was obvious on his expressions, and more than anything in his mind.

"I know, Jake." I told him. "I know how hard it is to be away from her." I agreed with him, remembering how hard it had been to me when I considered that little separation from Bella just a few minutes ago. "We'll play it by ear—see how they react to her. In any case, Nessie is going to have to be incognito off and on in the next few weeks. She'll need to stay at the cottage until the right moment for us to introduce her. As long as you keep a safe distance from the main house..."

"I can do that." Jacob agreed quickly. "Company in the morning, huh?"

"Yes." Fleeting, I noticed that Bella hadn't commented absolutely anything about it. "The closest of our friends. In this particular case, it's probably better if we get things out in the open as soon as possible. You can stay here. Tanya knows about you. She's even met Seth."

"Right."

"You should tell Sam what's going on." I said to him, remembering the so close visits that we would have, and we wouldn't want a war before it was time. "There might be strangers in the woods soon."

"Good point. Though I owe him some silence after last night." Jacob said, angry by the completely wrong reason.

"Listening to Alice is usually the right thing."

As soon as the words left my mouth, Jacob's teeth grounded together. Obviously he didn't agree with me, and I could see it in his mind, too.

_Please, Edward. Alice abandoned us._ – It didn't surprise me that Jacob used the plural, after all, he already considered himself as part of this family, too. – _I would have expected that from Rosalie, but Alice?_

I snorted slightly. And Jacob grimaced, remembering the words that I had just told him.

_Listening to Alice is usually the right thing._

"Jacob, please."

It was starting to bother me the way he thought of Alice. Like she were a traitor. I didn't want to think of her in any way, much less that way. Renesmee got distracted for a second looking at Bella, and I could see that she was walking forward toward the back windows. That short second that it took to Renesmee between looking at her mother and then to us, got me alert. There was something strange about the way she was moving. As if she didn't want to draw the attention on her…

Jacob noticed my distraction.

"What is it, Edward?"

I shook my head, and turned my eyes to Renesmee and Jacob.

I didn't want to talk anymore about Alice's issue and much less about the fight that was coming to us too soon. Renesmee was here, and I didn't want to scare her. Jacob had not told her the worst part.

I smiled to Renesmee when our eyes met, and slowly she came to me, it was still fascinating to see her walking, or doing anything else; soon, she was in my arms after jumping towards me.

Bella had laid her head on the glass, and near to her was a computer. That I knew about, Bella wasn't a lover of the technology.

Renesmee distracted me for a second from what her mom was doing.

Her little fingers touched my cheek, and showed me what I had already seen. The face of Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, and also Alice and Jasper. She wanted to know when would they all be back. At least that was an easy question to answer, she wasn't asking for each one of them. So my answer was a general answer, I didn't know what to say about her Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper.

"Soon, Nessie. Don't worry. They'll be fine." I told her while I was caressing her pink cheek and tried to smile at her.

I don't think I fooled her anyway.

I heard the sound of the keyboard being pushed, and then the monitor from the computer that was by Bella's side came to life.

Mmm…

What was she doing? Or, trying to do, I should do.

The three of them turned to see her, but Renesmee and Jacob didn't find anything strange so they didn't dedicate any attention to what was happening. I, on the contrary, in the second that I saw her, she seemed to be trying to pass it of what she was doing for absent.

Why?

The curiosity was killing me, but I held it back. Renesmee noticed my anxiety, and she smiled at me. Then she put her hand on my face, again, and showed me an image of her in Bella's arms this time. I nodded, and placed her on the floor so she would go to her mom.

A last brush on the keys and her attention on the computer was over.

Bella turned her eyes to the woods, and I heard her brushing her fingers on the wood for a few times before turning to Renesmee. She surely heard her footsteps.

Then, Renesmee was in her arms.

Soon, Renesmee placed her hand on Bella's cheek to show her the same thing that I had seen before. The faces of our family.

Bella's face, and mine, Jacob's, Rosalie's, Esme's, Carlisle's, Alice's and Jasper's passed through Bella's mind, surely. Bella could not listen to the question like I could, only images that Renesmee wanted to show came, but it was there the question in Renesmee's mind.

Seth's and Leah's face, too, passed through her mind, then Charlie's, Sue's and Billy's.

Our little four-months-old baby was worrying about what was happening, even when she didn't exactly know what was it.

I wanted to yell at her, tell her and assure her that there was nothing to worry about, but that would be a lie. Renesmee would notice. But the truth was, that she was the one who less should be worrying, because there had to be some way of saving her, some way of avoiding that terrible future that was getting closer to her with too much speed. Whatever it was, just to give her the life the Volturi were threatening with taking away so meanly.

_Where's Aunt Alice?_ Renesmee was wondering, while she showed Bella her face.

"I don't know." Bella answered to her, her voice was barely a whisper. "But she's Alice. She's doing the right thing, like always."

_Yeah, right._ I heard Jacob disagreeing with Bella.

Renesmee sighed, _but I miss her…_

"I miss her, too."

Bella became silent. I could see every one of her expression while she was talking and now while she was silent through Renesmee. Her face looked almost devastated. Her eyes blinked, and before being able to breath, the air got stuck inside, causing Bella to choke.

Bella was _crying_, just like Esme had been an hour ago.

There were no tears, but the feeling was there.

Renesmee, who had laid her face on Bella's chest an instant ago, turned immediately towards her when she heard her.

I should imagine that that would be Renesmee's reaction, but I never did.

Her little hands rose in the air to Bella's face, but not to show her something, her thoughts were blank, so I guessed that it was to comfort her. A sadness, like I never thought my daughter would feel, beat her. It was terrible to see how much she was suffering, only with seeing her mother suffering. I wanted to do something, but I had no idea what.

I heard clearly how a tear rolled down Renesmee's cheek, and then Bella kissing the place where it was falling down. Renesmee touched the wet place it left that tear, impressed.

_What is this?_ Renesmee wondered deeply.

How had we gotten to this? Our little baby, crying?

"Don't cry," Bella whispered. While Jacob and I too, asked so inwardly.

"It's going to be okay," Bella continued. "You're going to be fine. I will find you a way through this."

And I knew, that somehow, Renesmee would have to live.

I had to do it, though she were the last one from our family on surviving.

Because, how would I live, knowing that I couldn't do anything for our Renesmee? I couldn't.

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**So? Hoping really badly that you liked this chapter. I'll see you soon.**


	31. Chapter 30, IRRESISTIBLE

**Hi guys!**

**Oh, my God! I've finally finished writing this chapter. Sorry, but I told you it'd take me at least two weeks to update the next chapter. And then I just got, two reviews? Really? So disappointed, once again. And thank you to those two readers who are really faithful and reviewed the last chapter, love you guys! :)**

**And just because of those two readers, I am here now updating the next chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy it, and remember, the next one should be ready in another two weeks, 'cause once again I'll be out of town for the next two weeks, and then vacations will be over, so... I'll have less free time to write!**

**Well, hope you enjoy it.**

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CHAPTER 30. IRRESISTIBLE

The hours from this day passed incredibly slowly. I was starting to wonder if at any moment the end would come, or if I would rather think that it never would; it was so much easier to me to think that the end we so much feared would never come.

Jacob stayed in his human form during most of the time, and by Renesmee's side or having his eyes all the time in her. He phased back to wolf regularly so he would keep himself informed with Seth and Leah.

One of the many occasions in which he walked back into the house after having informed himself, his eyes rested for a second on the computer that Bella had been using before, and for a long while, my mind focused on such an inconsequential fact. But I was still wondering what she could have been doing or searching, and though the curiosity was wasting me away, I held back to not going and look…

If it would have been something important, Bella would have told me what it was about. I didn't see any reason for her to keep something from me.

Renesmee got calmer and calmer during the course of the day. Any who saw her from outside or couldn't read her mind, would say that she was quiet, completely, but not me. I could see the anxiety and tension growing up inside of her. And for the first time, Renesmee got her good from the refrigerator in the house, instead of almost being forced to go out hunting and drink some of animal blood. That distracted her enough for a while, glad to be able to drink some human blood without anyone objecting to.

Part of me was beginning to consider how would it be Tanya's and everyone else's reaction when they saw Renesmee, it worried me that they wouldn't give me the chance of explaining to them that she wasn't what they thought she was, which – surely – they would be sure she was.

How to explain them?

Bella and I spoke very little, there wasn't much to speak about, even Jacob and Renesmee were in silence almost the entire afternoon.

It seemed that it was a different house from the one it had been the last four months. There were no laughter everywhere, there was no glee in it, there was nothing to celebrate about, there was no life at all… except for the beats of Renesmee's and Jacob's hearts.

Her heartbeats were like a treasure to me. It seemed to me that the story would repeat itself in a worse way. Bella, at least, had had another choice then death. To Renesmee it was everything she had, because the more I thought about it, I couldn't come up with a plan to save her from such horrible ending; if we couldn't stop the Volturi, if they couldn't find enough – or at least some – friends who were willing to witness in Renesmee's favor… what were we going to do?

My head seemed to be spinning and spinning until leaving me dizzy. And for the first time, really, I understood it all… Alice – just thinking about her name was hard to me – could have a headache.

Again, I imagined which would be the reaction of our extended family.

Tanya and Kate, mainly, had a sense of the law too strong after what had happened to their mother. Maybe they wouldn't even consider giving me the opportunity of explaining to them that Renesmee was not an immortal child as soon as they saw her. And what if they reacted like Irina?

Damn! We weren't even facing the Volturi yet, nor did they even represent half the danger than them, and it worried me as much or more what would happen tomorrow when Tanya arrived.

The daylight advanced slowly, but at the end the darkness took power of the light.

Renesmee had already yawned four times by now, but she was struggling to not fall asleep for some reason. She seemed to not wanting to sleep and miss something important.

Bella, without releasing my hand, got up from the couch and moved her eyes to Renesmee and Jacob.

Without saying anything, she turned her eyes to me again. "I think we should take Renesmee home. Let her sleep in her own bed." She told me, her eyes were filled with some deep emotion.

It took me half a second to understand that Bella would want some normality to Renesmee.

I quickly nodded, and got up to get by her side. "You're right. Let's go home." I felt incapable of smiling, so maybe my tone of voice seemed to be more serious than I felt.

Jacob and Renesmee, having listened to each one of our words, were already on their feet. Well, Jacob was on his feet with Renesmee in his arms, he walked towards us so that Bella would take Renesmee in her arms, and he could leave before, and phase to wolf.

"I'm leaving. I'll phase to wolf so I'll be in guard." He said and with that he walked out of the front door.

It seemed like an immense relief to Jacob being in his wolf shape, he felt like he was ready to anything when he was like that. Ready to protect Renesmee from whatever it came across from her. His human form was less strong.

Renesmee, strangely, threw into my arms. Then, she placed her little hand on Bella's cheek, showing her an image of her in Bella's arms while she took her to her bed.

It was as if she was telling her that because she would be the one to take her to sleep, I would take her home.

Bella smiled at her, and said. "Let's go home."

I kept my right arm firmly wounded around Bella's waist, and the other one on Renesmee while we were walking to our home. Bella hugged me with both her arms, and Renesmee laid her face on my chest. At first I though it was because she was tired, but she simply wanted to be near us, her hands were resting on the arm of Bella that passed over us.

Jacob came to us, still behind some trees, and Renesmee slightly raised her eyes when she heard the movement and smelled Jacob's scent.

_We'll be rounding the house during the night, Edward._ Jacob told me while he walked into our sight.

I nodded, and the four of us kept walking.

We soon were at home, and as soon as walked in, Jacob ran into the woods to meet with his pack.

Bella took an almost asleep Renesmee in her arms and took her to her bedroom.

"I'll be right back. I'll take her to her bed." She told me, as usual; even when I already knew that that was what she would do.

I kissed Renesmee on her forehead before they left the room.

I tried to not think of that as a "goodbye", it felt absurdly terrible. It was not a goodbye, it was just goodnight to my daughter. Then, why did it hurt me to see her going away from me?

I did what I could to banish that feeling, while I listened to them walking forward through the hallway.

I didn't think that it would take too long to Bella to come back before Renesmee were already asleep, I should have known better. As soon as they walked into Renesmee's room, her eyes opened quickly, as if now that she was awake there she couldn't now, or didn't want to sleep.

I walked forward, while I was listening to Bella changing Renesmee into her pajamas, towards the chimney.

I was there for several minutes, just listening to my two angels, my look seemed to be frozen, I just saw what was going through Renesmee's head. There were so many feelings, that I was so shocked for a moment. Yes, Jacob had hidden from her the worst part, but it seemed like Renesmee senses that it was something much worse than what we let her see, and that made it worse, because it worried her even more. That we didn't tell her the complete truth, it only meant one thing; and Renesmee knew it.

Though on the outside, Renesmee look tranquil, and maybe Bella didn't notice the confusion inside of her, it was there.

More than anything, she was worried about what was happening. The face of each member of the family, was passing through her mind, Jacob's, her grandpa's, Sue's and Billy's, the pack's, just like she had showed to Bella before.

Worry and anxiety.

It shouldn't be that way. Renesmee was supposed to be smiling and enjoying life, that she played and jumped and ran everywhere she wanted to without fearing that that would soon be over. I was supposed to be her father, that I should protect her from anything, that I didn't allow anything bad to happen to her, that I didn't allow anyone to hurt her.

I knew that a God existed, and for the first time, I was praying for him to take care of Renesmee. She was innocent.

Bella started to read to her one of the books that we had bought for our baby a few months ago in Seattle. How different had it been the mood that day!

When she was whispering one of the passages to Renesmee, the word _fire_ and _chimney_ caught my attention, and brought something to the front of my mind. I remembered the moment in which I had walked into the house after Bella this morning.

Why had she burned that book?

To keep something from me that Alice had told her? Something that perhaps she would have left before writing that note to the whole family…

No. Bella would have told me. Wouldn't she?

I didn't want to distrust her. I remembered the day in which she had assured me that her thoughts always ended up being of my knowledge.

"_I always tell you what I'm really thinking."_ Bella had assured to me that morning when I had picked her up for the first time at her house to go to school together.

"_You edit."_

She had bitten down her lips before answering. _"Not very much."_

"_Enough to drive me insane."_

Would it be that, again, she was editing? Something that she wasn't telling me for who knew what reason.

No, I told myself again. Bella wouldn't keep anything from me. I was sure of that.

Before I had much more time to drive myself crazy trying to decipher her attitude from this morning, I heard her walking out of Renesmee's bedroom, who was now deeply asleep.

My look rested on the fire while I waited for Bella to get to me. And it seemed, that the question and doubt wouldn't let me.

Just like the desire…

As soon as I felt her close to me, was amazing how that electricity didn't cease with the time, it just got stronger, more potent. The day in which I would get used to feeling it would never come, it would always surprise me and like, how was I going to live without that emotion, without Bella with me?

How was I going to live, simply, without her?

There had to be something beyond this world for us…

I listened to Bella stopping a few feet from where I was waiting for her. The only thing that I had always wanted to do, since I had known her, was to love her and take care of her. And here I was, with no idea of how to do it when it came to the Volturi.

If we only had one moth left to be together, to love her and take care of her, I would do nothing more than that.

"Edward, I-" Bella whispered, and the sound of her voice seemed like a magnet that was pulling me towards her.

Before she could say any other word, before she could move one of her muscles, I had her lips on mine, making the conversation to be unnecessary – at least for tonight.

Tonight, unlike other nights, we didn't cross any word to each other. The only thing that I could make to come out of my mouth, was her name and an I love you; and to hear _my_ name and the _I love you_ coming out of her lips, to me, seemed to only increase the desire of being with her even more and not parting away from her side ever.

But the sun had to come out.

It had been, without a doubt, the shortest night form my existence. But I knew, that it really, was because of the tension and anxiety surrounding us.

Before losing access to her eyes in the night, in that half a second that it took me to get to her, her eyes had been full of doubts, a very different kind of confusion like the one I had seen when I turned towards her. Like if she had been planning to ask me something, I had no idea what. But at that moment, I had not had room in me to feed the curiosity.

Not that I was curious now, either. We had so little time before Tanya and everyone else arrived home and asked for an explanation of why they were here.

Suddenly, I was in panic. What if it was too much for them, and they didn't even want to listen to the truth? What if, at the end, anyone allowed us to explain or wouldn't decide to stay and support us for fear of the Volturi?

After a few minutes that the sun had come out from the east, Bella and I got away from each other to get ready and leave to the main house.

I could feel, how it was so difficult for her as it was for me, to stop. But it was necessary.

We walked into the closet quickly. Maybe this would have been the day, if not because Bella already recognize the fabrics' scents, in which she would have taken the first thing her hand touched, not caring about if it was baby pink or silk.

While we were getting dressed, I whispered. More to myself than to get an answer from her. "I wish there was a way to get the information we need from Eleazar before we tell them about Nessie." It would be quite good to be able to. If they didn't react they way we were expecting them to, how were we going to know what Alice meant before leaving? It was hard to just think of my sister, and even more when her name was mixed with the word _leaving_. "Just in case."

Even when I wasn't expecting an answer, Bella said something. "But he wouldn't understand the question to answer it." Again, Bella was right. "Do you think they'll let us explain?"

"I don't know." I told her honestly.

Their sense of law, was too strong and _loyal_ since the unfortunate episode with their mother. And to make it even worse, Eleazar also had that same sense of law; after all, he had been part of the Volturi for years before he found Carmen and a new reason for existing, than just using his gift in benefit of Aro, and the _secret_ of our world.

While we were walking towards Renesmee's bedroom, still asleep, I was still spinning around in my head the issue, I kept thinking and reconsidering the way in which was better to tell them what was happening, to introduce them to Renesmee. It wouldn't be easy, just as Carlisle had said.

I wondered, idly, where would they be now.

I was twice as anxious right now.

Bella opened, slowly and carefully, the door from Renesmee's bedroom so she wouldn't wake her up with the noise. There was no need, she was sound asleep yet.

Her little face, peacefully asleep, sent a pang of fear through my spine.

She was still so small…

Bella walked to her crib, and took her in her arms expertly. She cradled her for a few second and rocked her gently before turning to me, to leave. She had Renesmee's face almost to the height of her face, her ringlets were stuck to her face; I saw her inhaling her scent. As if it calmed her down.

Without saying anything, even when I knew that she wanted to because of the little V that always shaped between her eyes when she was thinking of something deeply, we walked to the door. Her expression didn't look very calmed, if I didn't know her so well, I wouldn't have noticed that she was struggling with something she wanted to tell me.

It wasn't until I was holding the doorknob to open the door, that Bella spoke again, her tone seemed to be tense, fearing my answer.

What did she want now?

Her words were barely a whisper, but enough as to leave me frozen. "Edward, will you teach me to fight?"

No, not now. Not this. I wasn't sure if I could stand doing that.

Even with her, as a vampire, I could not visualize her as a warrior, and much less, I like her teacher.

Why did she always have to ask this kind of things to me?

Teaching her to fight.

She seemed to choose the moment in which doing her questions. With Renesmee in her arms I could not yell or even growl. But though I could have, my reactions were reflex ones. My hand stayed frozen in the doorknob as soon as I heard what she was asking me, and I was realizing what it was that had her so pensive.

I turned to see her for a moment, my eyes looking all over every inch of her face's skin, her eyes; I seemed to be looking at the same vulnerable and breakable Bella, and more than anything the human Bella she had been months ago.

Could I teach her?

My eyes turned then to Renesmee's face, and casually, through her mind were passing Bella's and mine's face while she was still dreaming peacefully, totally and completely unaware of what was happening around her. Of what her mom was asking to me.

But, if this got to be a fight, would Bella really have a chance at winning, or at least, at fighting?

This situation changed my answer radically.

Perhaps she wouldn't have to fight, and that in a stupid way, calmed me down.

"If it comes to a fight, there won't be much any of us can do," I barely whispered.

"Would you leave me unable to defend myself?" Bella asked, she seemed to forcing her voice to stay calm.

I felt as if someone were drowning at me with just imagining my Bella in front of Jane, or Demetri without being able to do absolutely anything to defend herself. My hand tensed on the doorknob, suddenly, an indescribable ire invaded me when imagining any member of the guard trying to attack Bella to finish off with her existence.

"_She'll never touch you,"_ the words had a few months ago I was telling to Bella while we were preparing to the fight, that at that time had been against someone much less dangerous, Victoria.

"_Yet, what I wouldn't give to have her that close. Victoria and anyone else who's ever thought of hurting you. To have the chance to end this myself. To finish it with my own hands this time."_

It seemed like I should say that again. Assuring her that there was nothing to fear, that I would never allow anyone to hurt her. But I couldn't, not when it came to the Volturi.

I nodded reluctantly – I didn't think that Bella noticed the reluctance. "When you put it that way… I suppose we should get to work as soon as we can."

Bella just nodded.

I was barely able to keep my face clean of any kind of emotion that told her, while we were walking towards the white house to wait for Tanya, how much it scared me just thinking on fighting against Bella, even it were just to _teach her_. It was too much just imagining it in my head, seeing her as my target, analyzing her movements to beat her down…

I shook my head slightly; Bella didn't even notice. She was looking straight ahead, that little V between her eyes again.

What was she thinking now?

Sometimes, like this occasion, it scared me to ask what was she thinking about, and much more, to listen to the answer to such question.

My head was still turning around to the issue of what Bella had asked me to, and I preferred not to have much more to stress about. Bella, of course, wouldn't make it easy.

After a few second, she asked. "What would you say their biggest advantage is? Do they even have a weakness?"

Bella meant _them_, and it was easy to know who she was meaning to. Whom else could she be scared of?

Who else would come in little time to attack us?

I tried to keep my voice calmed, because the answers were not very encouraging. "Alec y Jane are their greatest offense. Their defensive players rarely see any real action."

"Because Jane can burn you where you stand – mentally at least. What does Alec do? Didn't you once say he was even more dangerous than Jane?"

It seemed that Bella was trying to give some answers to each one of the questions that she couldn't make yesterday. And it also seemed that I didn't have any other option than to answer to what she wanted to know, though I didn't want her to know. Bella was too stubborn to give up. She had proved so once and again.

"Yes. In a way, he is the antidote to Jane. She makes you feel the worst pain imaginable. Alec, on the other hand, makes you feel nothing." I knew that Bella wouldn't understand what I meant, so I continued. "Absolutely nothing. Sometimes, when the Volturi are feeling kind, they have Alec anesthetize someone before he is executed. If he has surrendered or pleased them in some other way."

"Anesthetic? But how is that more dangerous than Jane?"

I knew Bella would make that question.

"Because he cuts off your senses altogether. No pain, but also no sight or sound or smell. Total sensory deprivation. You are utterly alone in the blackness. You don't even feel it when they burn you."

I felt Bella shuddering lightly when I was finished talking.

I remembered the day in which Bella saved me from ending up just like thousands had already done in the hands of the Volturi, when I believed that I had already found the same heaven than Bella. I hadn't even been able to be sure that I was _dead_ or who knows what, when I knew what they could do with me.

Maybe Bella would understand that it wasn't something to take lightly. The Volturi.

I kept speaking, trying to make her understand. "That would make him only equally as dangerous as Jane, in that they both can incapacitate you, make you into a helpless target." Would she finally understand what we were facing at? I didn't have much hope that she were, when it came to Bella. "The difference between them is like the difference between Aro and me. Aro hears the mind of only one person at a time. Jane can only hurt the one object of her focus. I can hear everyone at the same time."

Before I could finish with what was next, Bella guessed what I was going to say. That was too much obvious, and I was hoping she was finally scared and any fool plan that were forming in her head would banish. "And Alec can incapacitate us all at the same time?"

"Yes. If he uses his gift against us," I came back to the explanation, I had to leave it very clearly what it was that expected us against the Volturi, and we were only talking about Jane and Alec. "we will all stand blind and deaf until they get around to killing us—maybe they'll simply burn us without bothering to tear us apart first. Oh, we could try to fight, but we'll be more likely to hurt one another than we would be to hurt one of them."

Bella didn't say anything this time. Maybe, for the first time, I understood the danger.

I didn't leave that that possibility convinced me. I knew much too well Bella to really believe it.

The seconds were passing and it worried me a bit that her face wasn't showing any emotion. It had not been so frustrating not seeing that glow in her eyes when an idea or a plan was forming since she had opened her eyes to this life, now it was, unbearable.

I turned to see Renesmee's face for a second, her dreams were so different to the tension that was now being lived up in our family. At least, my little Renesmee could get out from reality and dream with something better. At that moment, it was one of the best things that she'd inherited from her mother, being able to dream. I smiled slight and turned my look ahead front. Bella was still thinking on something too much, and I was beginning to worry.

There wasn't anything that I could do so our family, and I wasn't just talking about Bella and Renesmee, but all of us, to save us.

Maybe because of that reason Alice and Jasper had decided to leave us. Alice, maybe, had seen that this was our end and she didn't want to be a part of it. After all, she wasn't _completely_ part of our family as everyone else, neither she nor Jasper, they both came from outside. Carlisle had not created them, but still, I always believed that their _love_ was genuine.

Was I wrong?

It was hard to know now, without being able to read her mind and know the reason why she had left our side. I didn't want to think the worst, but I couldn't help it. She was my favorite sister, and maybe this asked me to not make differences. After all, who was still here? Rosalie. Not her.

I sighed, but Bella seemed to not be listening to her surroundings.

Before I started worrying, Bella spoke. "Do you think Alec is a very good fighter? " I felt my forehead wrinkling when I heard the forced calmed tone that Bella was using. She kept her eyes looking at the front while she kept speaking. "Aside from what he can do, I mean. If he had to fight without his gift. I wonder if he's ever even tried..."

I felt more than being conscious, of how my look was going to Bella's face brusquely, trying to find out what she was thinking now, and trying strongly to not do it.

Still… "What are you thinking?"

That was precisely what I was fearing.

Without turning to see me, Bella answered. "Well, he probably can't do that to me, can he?" Precisely what I was fearing, and that was what turned out to be. Not even as a vampire, Bella used her sense of self-preservation in the right way, or she did, but that terrified me even more. "If what he does is like Aro and Jane and you. Maybe… if he's never really had to defend himself… and I learned a few tricks—"

"He's been with the Volturi for centuries," I interrupted her before she kept telling me what her insane plans were. She couldn't expect me to _train_ her to fight against Jane or Alec just because, surely, they couldn't use their gifts on her. Was she insane? That she made me think of her as the only one from us who would be able to defend herself while everyone else were there, defenseless… was too much for me. "Yes, you're surely immune to his power," I continued, trying to calm down the panic attack that was getting the best of me. She would never let me take care of her as I should, as I was supposed to. "but you are still a newborn, Bella. I can't make you that strong a fighter in a few weeks. I'm sure he's had training."

"Maybe, maybe not." Bella said, getting me even more nervous yet. There was no way I would change her mind. "It's the one thing I can do that no one else can. Even if I can just distract him for a while—" Could I last long enough to give the others a chance?

"Please, Bella. Let's not talk about this." I didn't stand that image.

But Bella was right, without being conscious of it, on something. Jane, at least, had not received training. That I could easily see it that day in Italy, and Carlisle had commented about it once. How Jane, so arrogant as she was, had refused to train, she didn't think it necessary. Never, until that moment, had she found herself with someone who could defend herself against the power the twins possessed.

Either way, that Bella wouldn't know.

Before Bella could take a step toward Jane or Alec, Demetri would already have her crumpled into pieces and in a piling mountain to…

"Be reasonable," Bella said, pulling me out of my thoughts, luckily.

"I will try to teach you what I can, but please don't make me think about you sacrificing yourself as a diversion—" I could not finish, I felt as if I was choking with something, as if I were already receiving the currents of pain that Jane had once inflicted on me.

Bella only nodded, letting pass for the moment any thought that she had now.

I was really trying to focus on another subject that didn't put me on the edge of craziness, but it was hard for me to find something more than it wasn't Bella's words forming an image that was horrible to me, maybe solely to me. I couldn't, not even consider, that that was possible. Risking Bella just to give me or any member of my family an opportunity to stay in this world. It sounded like being selfish, and maybe I was, very surely, but I couldn't care while I was listening the peaceful breathing of my Renesmee, her heart beating healthily, reminding me every one of the heartbeats I had loved of Bella.

And I did that, there I found my answer to calm down my nerves.

It wasn't difficult to search in my memory and start listening as if it still were beating for real, the sound of Bella's heart while she was still human. I had every one of them very present for the rest of eternity. They had always calmed me down, and by remembering them and listening to our daughter's heartbeats, seemed like a good medicine.

I was beginning to relax, when Bella spoke again, only to make harder what was starting to happen already. "I have to learn everything. As much as you can possibly cram into my head in the next month."

I didn't answer back, I didn't want to interrupt the music that were her heartbeats and Renesmee's in my head.

All of this trying to relax, was starting to bring more memories into my memory, happy memories. The first ones that passed through my eyes were each one of the days, each one of the hours that I had spent by my angel's side, my family's.

The first time that I saw her face in some student's mind at school, the first time that I saw her into her eyes, those deep chocolate brown eyes, the first time that I heard her voice across that cafeteria in school, the first time that I saw her cheeks blushing red to the contact with my eyes, the first time that I smelled her sweet scent, the first time that I spoke with her and could see how her eyes were a better door into her thoughts than my _gift_, the first time that I felt that electric current when I touched her soft and warm skin, the first time that I allowed myself to touch the perfect skin of her cheeks, the first time that I deserved one of her smiles, the first time that her lips touched mine, all those first times that were a thousand times better than any other…

Carlisle's face, my father, my creator; Esme, my mother; even the blurry faces of my human parents, Edward Sr. and Elizabeth; every one of the faces of my siblings, Emmett and Jasper; my sisters', Rosalie and… Alice.

I thought about the last fifty years by Alice's side and how my life in the family had changed with her arrival. I never had siblings, and she really had been a good sister.

Probably, if Alice had never come to our family, I would have come back to Denali that week after having run away cowardly from temptation, without being sure that I wouldn't kill her thanks to Alice and her visions, her unconditional support, would I have stayed and gotten to the point where I realized that I was falling in love with Bella?

I owed her more than her support and her fraternal love.

Alice, of everyone, had been my sister in every senses. And if she had left because the Volturi would want to force her to be in the guard, could I blame her for having left us?

Could I thank her somehow for everything?

If that was what Aro really wanted, by coming here, taking Alice with him; there was just one thing I could do: killing Demetri.

That would be my mission if this really got to a fight.

"Demetri…" Bella said, as if she had been listening to what I was thinking.

In some other time, being in sync with her thoughts would have made me smile, not today. "Demetri is mine," my voice came out rougher than what I planned. Just thinking about him made me want to have him in my hands right now, and rip his head off to…

I tried to control myself when I listened to Jacob walking to us, he had heard us and was coming towards us.

"Why?" Bella asked, after having turned to see me. The tone of my voice, surely, had surprised her.

I didn't answer immediately. How to explain?

We crossed the river, and Jacob was coming, anxious to see Renesmee, to check if she was okay. He didn't doubt that we had taken care of her, but not seeing her got him tense, anyway.

I decided that I couldn't let in the air an answer to Bella, so I told her, "For Alice. It's the only thanks I can give her now for the last fifty years."

_Hey, Edward. Everything's been calmed. For now._ Jacob thought while he neared us.

Before Bella could say anything else, Jacob was by her side.

His eyes went straight to Renesmee. He sighed with relief, and thought. _Yes, I already you you'd take care of her, but I was still nervous. It's good being able to see her…_

Bella nodded, acknowledging him. I smiled a little bit and we kept walking towards the house.

"Edward," Bella said, bringing my attention to her again. How many more questions had she kept? Well, that I would find out. "why do you think Alice told us to ask Eleazar about the Volturi?" Oh, I'd forgotten that Bella didn't know much about any of our friends' lives, much less about Eleazar's. "Has he been in Italy recently or something? What could he know?"

Jacob also focused on the answer that Bella was waiting for.

"Eleazar knows everything when it comes to the Volturi. I forgot you didn't know." How could I have forgotten that? "He used to be one of them."

Bella hissed before I said anything else, and Jacob growled by her side.

_What? And you trust him? Maybe he…_ Jacob started making assumptions about Eleazar.

"What?" Bella said, her tone was still disapproving.

I smiled slightly to her reaction, and the way she thought of the Volturi. Now I saw really well how Bella though they were, how she'd feared them so much before.

But, in my mind passed through the gentle face of Eleazar, and perhaps it would be hard to think of him as one of them, even as a warrior, but it was nothing of what Bella was probably thinking, and what I could see Jacob was thinking.

"Eleazar is a very gentle person." I started telling them before they freaked out even more. "He wasn't entirely happy with the Volturi, but he respected the law and its need to be upheld. He felt he was working toward the greater good. He doesn't regret his time with them. But when he found Carmen, he found his place in this world. They are very similar people, both very compassionate for vampires." I smiled a bit when I said that. It was a rare _description_ for a vampire, aside from Carlisle and Esme, I hadn't known any other vampires like them. "They met Tanya and her sisters, and they never looked back. They are well suited to this lifestyle. If they'd never found Tanya, I imagine they would have eventually discovered a way to live without human blood on their own."

Bella didn't say anything, probably processing all the information I had just given her.

Jacob, on the other side, was faster.

_Why was he with the Volturi if was so _gentle_ as you say? Was he one of their warriors or what?_

If he was so gentle. It was hard for Jacob to imagine the Volturi as something less than _villains_, when they were about to come and attack us for something we had not done, not really.

I answered his question. "No, he wasn't one of their warriors, so to speak. He had a gift they found convenient."

Not even talking about Aro. He was the one who picked out the new members and they ones who were _leaving_.

_He wasn't a warrior? So, what did he do with them if not fight?_ Jacob asked.

"He has an instinctive feel for the gifts of others—the extra abilities that some vampires have," I wondered if Eleazar could tell us if Bella's gift really was a super self-control or like I had believed, it was about her preparation. "He could give Aro a general idea of what any given vampire was capable of just by being in proximity with him or her. This was helpful when the Volturi went into battle. He could warn them if someone in the opposing coven had a skill that might give them some trouble. That was rare; it takes quite a skill to even inconvenience the Volturi for a moment. More often, the warning would give Aro the chance to save someone who might be useful to him. Eleazar's gift works even with humans, to an extent. He has to really concentrate with humans, though, because the latent ability is so nebulous. Aro would have him test the people who wanted to join, to see if they had any potential. Aro was sorry to see him go."

For what I had found out in these moments, I knew that Bella would make a question that would shock me and at the same time not so much.

_They let him go? C'mon!_ Jacob though, at the same time that Bella started speaking.

"They let him go?" Bella asked, without disappointing me. "Just like that?"

I smiled at her tone. Bella had no idea of how it worked the _government_ that Aro, Caius and Marcus had created for our civilization. "The Volturi aren't supposed to be the villains, the way they seem to you. They are the foundation of our peace and civilization. Each member of the guard chooses to serve them. It's quite prestigious; they all are proud to be there, not forced to be there."

Bella didn't say anything else again. She was in disagreement to what I had just said, that was obvious. Her eyes turned to the ground, and she frowned.

_How can you defend them, Edward? They want to kill you daughter-_

I spoke before Jacob kept going on. They were both wrong. I was not defending them, just telling the truth.

"They're only alleged to be heinous and evil by the criminals, Bella."

"We're not criminals." Bella said.

_Of course not,_ Jacob thought while he snorted, showing his agreement with what Bella was saying. As if I didn't know that, too.

"They don't know that."

"Do you really think we can make them stop and listen?" Bella asked, and I would have preferred anything else than to have to answer to that.

I really didn't want them to see, none of them both, the little thing I thought that this would work out at this same moment. I still wasn't sure. We still had a lot to do left. I shrugged, trying to take some seriousness of from the issue, when it was impossible. "If we find enough friends to stand beside us. Maybe."

As if we were still in sync, the two of us started walking forward much faster towards the house. The minutes were running against us. Soon, Tanya and everyone else would arrive, and I still didn't know how we would do what we had to do.

Jacob ran behind us, quickly.

_This will be harder than what I thought._ He thought while we were walking to the house.

"Tanya shouldn't be too much longer. We need to be ready." I said, suddenly anxious about the answer that I didn't know they would have when they saw Renesmee.

In just a few second we were arriving to the house, it seemed like a strange place in a way. We had never been received by the silence from the white walls and the woods reflected from the glasses. Esme's maternal smile, and the smile that always stretched into their faces when they Renesmee were missing.

Renesmee, and even Jacob felt the difference.

The four of us walked into the main room, and Jacobs at on the couch with Renesmee between him and Bella. I stayed on my feet, too much anxious to keep myself still, even when it was part of my normal state as a vampire.

While he was sitting by Renesmee's side, Jacob turned to me. "Edward?"

I turned around, and I frowned. "Yes?" I asked, not very sure of what it was that Jacob wanted, he'd learned to hide pretty well his thoughts.

"I just wanted to tell you that Sam and everyone else already know about the _friends_ that would be around the woods very soon," his tone was a bit sour while he was speaking about the soon-to-arrive friends. They were vampires, and they couldn't attack them, that was against their protective nature, because they knew that only Tanya and her family were _vegetarians_ like us, and the others would feed of human blood.

"Good. Thank you, Jake," I answered him, and then I thought of something else. "I know it will be hard to have them here, but we will ask them to not hunt in the surroundings of Forks and La Push."

"Sure, sure," Jacob just said, letting his eyes fall to the ground.

Listening about hunting, made Renesmee to get hungry, I saw it in her mind, but she didn't say anything.

Bella turned to see me before I could tell anything to Renesmee, and she seemed to smile "Fine," she said, while kept staring at me. "What are we doing now?"

I lowered my eyes for a second towards my daughter. Renesmee was staring at my face too and she smiled at me, more cheered up than what Bella had barely been able to show. Her thoughts were more calmed today than yesterday, but there was still there that tone of worry that kept in our faces while the seconds kept ticking by.

"I'm thinking… which would it be the best way… for them to… see Renesmee," I whispered, my eyes had turned to Bella.

_What do you mean with_ the best way for them to see Renesmee, _Edward?_ Jacob asked.

Renesmee got nervous when she heard me, and Bella when feeling the tension in her body, she started running her fingers through her bronze ringlets.

"I don't know how we should receive Tanya," I answered Jacob, and at the same time I continued. "Maybe they should see her first, and then explain."

"But… don't you think they wouldn't let us explain, then? They would think the same thing Irina did when she saw her," Bella answered.

"Mmm," I murmured, Jacob and Renesmee were just looking at us while we discussed. "Yes, I though that, too. It will be better she's hidden at first. I could explain to them some of the problem and then we'd show them Renesmee."

"Who are we leaving her with?" Bella asked. "Jacob?"

"Maybe Jacob shouldn't be here, either."

"What? No, I will not stay away from Renesmee," Jacob almost growled.

I sighed, while I saw how Renesmee's little hand tensed around Jacob.

"Jake, you'd only be outside, with the rest of the pack."

Jacob did not answer, he just shook his head in refusal, and refused to accept what his mind was telling him.

"All right," I agreed reluctantly.

"How does this leave us?" Bella asked, then.

"I think the best would be for me to receive them and try to explain to them. Bella, you and Jacob will wait with Renesmee at the dinning room until it's time."

Jacob smiled, and nodded. "I'll stay in my human form. It would be easier, don't you think?"

"Yes, it's better," I answered absently.

Renesmee stretched out her hand towards me, and I took her in my arms. A sad smile crossed her face while she put her little hand in my cheek.

Through my mind passed an image of us two smiling. She didn't want to see me sad.

I placed a kiss on her forehead, and hugged her. "Everything will soon be back to normal, Nessie."

Renesmee laid her head on my chest, and over her head, I made Bella a sign for her to take her in her arms. Bella stood, and spoke up to bring Renesmee's attention to her and took her with her.

"It's almost time. They shouldn't be late in arriving," I announced after a few seconds.

The four of us walked into the dinning room, and Jacob and Bella sat.

Renesmee stretched out her arms to Jacob, and Bella didn't allow her to leave her arms, her face suddenly showing a different kind of desperation.

"No, it's okay," Jacob said, looking at Bella and her anxious face. "Stay with your mom, Nessie."

Bella turned to see him. "Thanks," she told him, but her eyes were asking him the reason behind this.

"In case that I have to phase back quickly, I'll need space," Jacob explained to her.

Bella didn't say anything for a few seconds, and then nodded.

I moved slowly towards the glass back wall, and I leaned against it. I focused on the noises coming from the freeway and the thoughts that suddenly appeared in my mind when they neared my ear shot. The voices of our extended family were familiar so I would hear them before they near to less than five miles.

For moments, the voices of the wolves at the house's surroundings, Jacob's and even Renesmee's disappeared while I was waiting to hear Tanya's or Kate's voice.

The voices that passed across the freeway came to the front of my mind.

_I hope I won't arrive late. I've got five minutes left…_

_Will she like the blouse I bought for her? … her favorite color's green…_

_This car runs great, I should've bought it before._

_Flour, sugar, butter, chocolate… is that everything mom needs for the cake?_

It didn't seem like Tanya and Kate were going to occupy my mind now.

Renesmee's voice distracted me, and above all her thoughts. _They won't like me…_

I turned to the sound of her voice in her head, and then Jacob and Bella when she spoke up what she was thinking and worrying. "What if they don't like me?"

_What non-sense is that? It's impossible…_ Jacob thought.

"Of course they'll-" Jacob put his thoughts into words, but he stopped when he saw the look Bella gave him. Asking him to shut up.

"They don't understand you, Renesmee, because they've never met anyone like you," Bella started explaining to her, and told her only the truth. She probably didn't want to tell her anything that made Renesmee feel better if it was a lie. We were not sure if Tanya and everyone else were going to like being involved in this, meeting Renesmee.

Bella continued. "Getting them to understand is the problem."

_But we well make them understand…_ Jacob thought.

Renesmee sighed, without moving, her hand was already on Bella's cheek, she showed her quickly an image of all of us, and how she didn't belong to any _group_; vampire, human, werewolf. There wasn't a place for her, she thought.

Before Bella could say anything, I listened to the thoughts I had been waiting for.

"_Do you have any idea of what's happening?"_ I heard Kate asking Tanya.

Tanya shook her head, and said to her. _"Carlisle didn't tell me anything. Just that Edward and Bella would wait for us to explain it all."_

Kate nodded, and Eleazar spoke. _"Something strange's happening. But I don't understand what would they want us so soon here for."_

"You're special, that's not a bad thing," Bella assured her, while I kept listening to Tanya's and everyone else's conversation.

They had no idea what they were coming for, just as Carlisle had said.

Renesmee shook her head, refusing to believe what Bella was saying. Then, the images of our faces and the tension and worry in them passed through her mind. "This is my fault."

"No," the three of us said at the same time. I had not even noticed that the car in which Tanya and the rest were coming from was about to arrive to the dirt road to our house. The words and sadness in the words that Renesmee had said, had distracted me enough. Nothing else mattered to me, than that Renesmee didn't feel such thing. It wasn't her fault at all what was happening.

And that exactly what we would prove in front of the Volturi, and so to save her from a faith she didn't deserve. She deserved happiness, not sadness.

I knew that we only had a few seconds more. Before someone reacted, I was already waiting in the front door for our friends to arrive and knock on the door. Alice and Jasper, in this moment, it was the time when we most needed them. I had no idea of how would they react, and it would have been good to have Jasper here to control a little bit the atmosphere.

But they're not, I told myself, and they won't come back.

I forced myself to focus on the task I was about to make, and stop thinking on Alice and Jasper, that'd only get me worse.

I heard Renesmee hiding under Bella's hair; she also, like us, was afraid of the reaction of Tanya and everyone else.

The car was soon in front of the house, and I could see the outside of the house and lawn through the four of them minds. They didn't know what they were expecting when arriving here, probably an army of vampires of a fight, but they noticed something strange as they left the car at the same time. The sound of four doors closing. While they were nearing the house, everyone started making assumptions and trying to guess – again – why they were here.

They had no idea of what was coming.

Would they understand?

They walked up the porch stairs, and before Tanya could knock on the door, before she even raised her hand towards the door, I took a deep breath in silence, and opened the door.

The confused face for a second of Tanya received me, then it changed into a big smile when she saw me.

She launched into me, and hugged me. "Edward!"

"Hello Tanya. Kate, Eleazar, Carmen," I said while Tanya took a step back.

The three of them answered back, while Tanya was still smiling. Kate rolled her eyes to me when she saw her sister's reaction by seeing me.

_She won't change,_ she only thought.

I stayed at the doorway, almost blocking the entrance while Tanya was thinking what to ask first.

Everyone noticed that I didn't ask them to come in.

Tanya spoke to me first, a little bit anxious for listening to the reason of why we needed them here so urgently. That had been the most discussed conversation they had had while traveling here.

"Carlisle said he needed to talk to us right away. What's the problem? Trouble with the werewolves?" she asked while she raised a perfect eyebrow, the expectation for a positive answer was more than obvious in her thoughts than in her tone.

_Please! Don't they have imagination?_ Jacob complained inwardly, while I saw reflected in his mind how Bella saw him rolling his eyes.

"No," I answered Tanya, and the curious thoughts from Kate, Eleazar and Carmen.

_Mmm, so, what is it, Edward?_ Tanya asked.

"Our truce with the werewolves is stronger than ever," I finished saying.

Carmen chuckled, she was the only one who had told everyone else that she doubted that our problem were with the werewolves. She was right.

_Well, it's not the wolves…_

"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Tanya asked, feeling a bit strange that I still hadn't asked so, she walked to and past me for only a step ahead the door, where I was standing. "Where's Carlisle?"

_Tanya,_ Kate just thought, a little desperate with her sister.

It was time for the truth, and I still didn't know how it'd turn out.

"Carlisle had to leave."

_What? Why? What's going on here?_

_Carlisle had to leave? What do you mean, Edward?_

_I don't understand. Why did he have to leave? Where?_

_Edward, I think it's time you tell us what's going on._

"What's going on, Edward?" Tanya asked, completing what she'd already been thinking.

That short moment gave me an idea, and I was hoping it'd work out. After all, what other way would it work out? They came here to witness, and they had to do it for themselves first.

I nodded to myself, and started. "If you could give me the benefit of the doubt for just a few minutes," I asked them, almost begged. This was more complicated than what any of them were imagining, and it was my job to explain it. "I have something difficult to explain, and I'll need you to be open-minded until you understand."

_What's the secret? Why did Carlisle leave? It has to do with him all of this._ Eleazar was beginning to worry for the wrong reasons.

"Is Carlisle all right?" Eleazar asked again.

"None of us is all right, Eleazar," I told him, my eyebrows rising up while I answered him. He was close enough to me, I patted him a few times against his shoulder while I continued. The hour of them started getting really worried now. "But physically, Carlisle is fine."

_Mmm?_ It seemed like a whisper, the four of them were more confused than before, and I knew that I couldn't procrastinate this conversation for much longer.

"Physically?" Tanya asked, her voice was calmed despite of the confusion in her mind. "What do you mean?"

_Could you finish telling us what is going on, Edward? It's been too much secret…_

"I mean that my entire family is in very grave danger. But before I explain, I ask for your promise."

_Promise?_

The time was dangerously coming, but there was no going back. There was no other option.

"Listen to everything I say before you react," I kept asking them. "I am begging you to hear me out."

_I won't stand it…_ Jacob was thinking while he listened to my words and imagined the reaction we so much feared they would have.

Tanya looked me straight into my eyes, seriously. _Edward, you know that we always listen to you._

_What's the matter, Edward? I can see the fear in your eyes._ Eleazar was thinking.

Kate and Carmen, just like Tanya, promised silently that they were listening to whatever I were going to say.

"We are listening," Tanya finally broke the silence, guessing – correctly – that I was waiting for them to confirm what I was asking them. "We will hear it all before we judge."

"Thank you, Tanya," I told her with genuine gratefulness, I could see the sincerity in her words as much as in her thoughts. Tanya would always do anything I asked her for. It had always been that way, even when what I asked her wasn't something she liked, always with the hope that I would change my mind. Now it wasn't like that, but she would. "We wouldn't involve you in this if we had any other choice."

Eleazar frowned when he heard my last words.

I decided that we could already walked into the house, they would soon have to see Renesmee to understand what was going on and what was the big _secret_ I was keeping from them. I moved aside and then into the inside of the house pointing with a gesture for them to come in.

The first one to come in was Tanya, and she immediately noticed the scent of werewolf.

_I don't know how they stand it._ She thought to herself.

"I knew those werewolves were involved," Tanya said.

"Yes," I answered her. "and they're on our side. Again."

_Well, it's fine._ Tanya thought, a bit of resentment in her tone.

"Where's your Bella?" Carmen asked, remembering how I had called her in our wedding reception, _my Bella_. "How is she?"

"She'll join us shortly. She's well, thank you. She's taken to immortality with amazing finesse."

_Oh, well..._ Tanya thought, suddenly desperate. She did not want to talk about Bella. Though her feelings towards me were never pure, she couldn't help being a little _jealous_ of the woman who had achieved what she couldn't.

"Tell us about the danger, Edward," Tanya said, her voice low and calmed. "We'll listen. And we'll be on your side, where we belong," her thoughts turned to Irina for a second.

I took a deep breath of air when I saw her face in Tanya's mind, and remembering that this was her fault. Also to recover myself, here it came. "I'd like you to witness for yourselves first. Listen – in the other room. What do you hear?"

The four of them heard with much attention to what was in the other room, the breathing and the heartbeats of two _people_, they knew that one was a werewolf, but they started to get anxious, while they were listening to the other sound, believing that it was human. It was the most reasonable explanation to them. But it was different, and they didn't notice.

"Just listen first, please."

The four calmed down a bit, and Tanya was the first one to speak. "A werewolf, I assume. I can hear his heart."

_Yes, a werewolf. But, what's the other one? A human?_

"What else?" I asked Kate when I heard her confusion.

Kate didn't answer, too confused as to put into words what she was thinking. She soon though that it was something different than a human.

"What is that thrumming? Is that... some kind of bird?"

"No," Kate narrowed her eyes, and Tanya frowned. "but remember what you're hearing. Now, what do you smell? Besides the werewolf."

Eleazar was the one who spoke, his assumption the same one than Kate's. "Is there a human here?"

"No," Tanya answered to Eleazar, smelling with more attention to the strange scent of Renesmee. She perceived the half-vampire scent she had. "It's not human... but... closer to human than the rest of the scents here. What is that, Edward? I don't think I've ever smelled that fragrance before?"

"You most certainly have not, Tanya," I told her, and she raised an eyebrow at my tone. "Please, please remember this is something entirely new to you. Throw away your preconceived notions."

"I promised you I would listen, Edward," Tanya assured me again.

I nodded, and called a little bit louder. "All right, then. Bella? Bring out Renesmee."

It took Bella more seconds than was necessary to walk into the room. Jacob was coming behind her, poised to whatever it happened. Renesmee, if she could have, would have refused to come in to be seen, but she knew it was necessary. Her face was still hidden under Bella's hair.

She just took one step into sight range and stopped.

Tanya, Kate, Carmen and Eleazar were looking intently to the little bump in Bella's arms. They were confused. But that confusion quickly banished as soon as they saw how Renesmee raised her little face.

_It's not true!_

_What? No! it's not..._

All their thoughts focused on the incredulity for a millisecond and then they turned to terror.

It was just like I expected, and just like I hoped it wasn't.

Tanya tumbled quickly back, taking four steps and wishing she wasn't looking at Renesmee at that moment. More scared than how she'd ever been since the day in which the Volturi had destroyed her mother and that immortal child. Kate came back to the entrance completely, as if somehow she were safer there holding onto the wall, a hiss was coming out of her mouth. Carmen was the only one who didn't move, Eleazar placed himself in front of her, ready to protect her if necessary.

All thoughts, except Carmen's, were full of reproach.

"Oh please," Jacob complained when he saw their reactions.

I moved towards Bella and put my arm around them both. Renesmee, hadn't been she so strong, would have been crying. Her thoughts seemed to accuse us in a certain way, for having said it wasn't her fault. In that moment, she didn't doubt it.

"You promised to listen," I reminded them four, especially Tanya and Kate.

"Some things cannot be heard!" Tanya answered. They didn't seem to accept to reason what they were seeing. "How could you, Edward? Do you not know what this means?"

Carmen kept quiet, the entire time studying Renesmee's face. She was the only one who had ever seen an immortal child. Maybe that was why she hadn't reacted the same way as the others.

"We have to get out of here," I heard Kate saying, but I didn't focus on her.

"Edward..." Eleazar didn't say anything else. He was incapable of saying anything more about this. His thoughts seemed to be in blank.

My look stayed in Tanya, "Wait," I begged them in a voice that seemed to be an order. "Remember what you hear, what you smell. Renesmee is not what you think she is."

"There are no exceptions to this rule, Edward," Tanya reminded me. Still refusing to listen.

_She is not what you think?_ Carmen wondered.

"Tanya, you can hear her heartbeat! Stop and think about what that means!" I asked her.

_No, Edward! I cannot believe you have done this. What were you thinking?_

Carmen, on the contrary, was listening to what I was saying.

"Her heartbeat?" Carmen whispered, leaning her head from behind Eleazar to have a better look.

"She's not a full vampire child," I told Carmen, who was really listening to me. Her eyes were seeing the same thing that my family had seen when she was born, her eyes – Bella's eyes -, her face – my face -. "She is half-human."

_What are you saying? That is not possible, no._

The four of them became completely silent, without comprehending what I had just told them.

"Hear me," I begged them, my voice softer. "Renesmee is one of a kind. I am her father. Not her creator – her biological father."

_Edward, no. That can't be. You are a vampire, and she is, too._ Tanya thought while she barely shook her head.

_Her biological father? How? Please!_

_It may be the truth. The girl is identical to Edward. The color of her hair, her face..._

"Edward, you can't expect us to-" Eleazar started saying.

"Tell me another explanation that fits, Eleazar," I interrupted him. "You can feel the warmth of her body in the air. Blood runs in her veins, Eleazar. You can smell it."

"How?" Kate asked, believing every time a little bit more what I was saying.

"Bella is her biological mother," I started explaining to them. One part of me was wishing not to say anything. Renesmee was here, and I didn't want her to know what having her had caused. "She conceived, carried and gave birth to Renesmee while she was still human. It nearly killed her. I was hard-press to get enough venom into her heart to save her."

"I've never heard of such a thing," Eleazar commented, still not very convinced.

But I could see that they would.

"Physical relationships between vampires and humans are not common," I said, while I thought of Tanya and Kate. They better than anyone else should understand what I meant. "Human survivors of such trysts are even less common. Wouldn't you agree, cousins?"

_Very funny, Edward._ Tanya complained while frowning, Kate did the same thing.

"Come now, Eleazar. You surely can see the resemblance," Carmen spoke, and for I was seeing, she already believed in my words without a doubt. Almost.

Carmen got away from Eleazar to step closer to Bella and Renesmee, ignoring the silent shouts from Eleazar to not do it. She stopped in front of Bella, and lowered her look and face to Renesmee.

Her eyes studied with more intensity the resemblance she had already noticed. "You seem to have your mother's eyes," Renesmee got excited a little bit when she saw that Carmen wasn't scared like everyone else, and that she seemed to have liked her. "but your father's face," she then smiled at her, just like it had happened with our family, Carmen already loved her in a way.

Carmen smiled at her, and Renesmee did too.

_Oh, how beautiful she is. I can't doubt she's your daughter, Edward. She's identical to you._

Renesmee wanted to show the story to Carmen, but she wasn't sure if she could do it, she put her hand – without taking away her look from Carmen - on Bella's cheek to show her what she wanted.

"Do you mind if Renesmee tells you about it herself?" Bella asked her, her voice was barely a whisper. "She had a gift for explaining things."

Still smiling, Carmen talk to Renesmee for the first time. "Do you speak, little one?"

"Yes," Renesmee answered her, and Tanya and everyone else shuddered at the sound of her voice. Ridiculous. Only Carmen stayed tranquil. "But I can show you more than I can tell you."

Renesmee raised her hand, _here we go_, she said while she placed her hand against Carmen's cheek.

Carmen, like everyone else, had the same reaction. Her body got tensed when she saw the first image passed through her mind. I was too focused on seeing what Renesmee was showing to her, and confirm that Carmen believed her, that I didn't notice Eleazar until Carmen asking to let her see. "Wait," her voice breathless with the surprise that she was still feeling after the first image.

Renesmee kept showing her all the images that she believed would convince her. Every day of her life since she had been born, she showed her violent birth, the first time that her eyes saw my face and knew that I was her father, when she heard Bella's voice asking for her, and I placed her in her arms, the first time that she called me _daddy_ and Rosalie gave her to me, the first time that I held her in my arms and sang to her, when Bella finally was with her, when we showed her bedroom and placed her on her crib, every night that Bella read to her a bed story, then she showed her an image of every one of the members of the family, with her two grandparents, with her grandmother, her aunts, her uncles, the wolves, and the humans that were part of her family, the walks, the hugs, the laughter, the hunts and her disgust about animal blood, and still she never hurt or tried to hurt Charlie or Billy, how she understood that it was best drinking animal blood than killing a human, how she could eat human food even when it tastes so bad, the first time that she spoke and walked, she showed her absolutely everything.

"What's Nessie showing her?" Jacob growled, anxious because he didn't know what was it that Carmen was seeing.

"Everything," I answered, my mind was still on the images flooding Carmen's thoughts.

After another minutes, Renesmee finished, she let her hand dropped with a huge smile. Carmen turned to see me, and spoke. "She really is your daughter, isn't she?" her voice sounded a bit impressed. "Such a vivid gift! It could only have come from a very gifted father."

"Do you believe what she showed you?" I asked her, anxious and almost happy of knowing that she did. I had to hear it and everyone else, too.

"Without a doubt," Carmen said, without doubting as she'd said.

"Carmen!" Eleazar said, his tone full reproach. His face still showed some signs of stress.

She turned to see them, and Carmen took his hands in hers and told him. "Impossible as it seems, Edward had told you nothing but truth. Let the child show you."

Carmen encouraged Eleazar to come closer to Bella and Renesmee, and then nodded to Nessie. "Show him, mi querida."

Renesmee smiled hugely when she heard Carmen, completely happy of seeing that she had accepted her and she liked her. She outstretched her hand towards Eleazar's forehead, and touched him lightly, waiting for the reaction he'd have.

"Ay, caray!" Eleazar said when the first image crossed through his mind, and pulled his head away from Renesmee because of the surprise.

"What did she do to you?" Tanya asked him, worried and confused at the same time.

She and Kate were starting to near a bit towards us.

"She's just trying to show you her side of the story," Carmen explained, as if she understood Renesmee's gift perfectly.

"Watch, please," Renesmee asked him, her forehead wrinkling as she stretched out her hand, trying to reach him again, and waiting for him to come closer, too.

Eleazar looked at her cautiously, and Carmen nodded towards him, encouraging him.

_All right..._ he thought while sighing and came closer to Renesmee slowly, his eyes closed when Renesmee touched his forehead again.

Eleazar shuddered when he saw the first images, and because of the shock of having that in his mind. The same images that she showed to Carmen passed through Eleazar's mind. In a matter of minutes, Renesmee dropped her hand, and smiled at him, too.

"Ahh, I see," Eleazar said while she opened his eyes again.

Eleazar smiled, almost forcefully, to Renesmee. He didn't know what to do with what he was seeing.

"Eleazar?" Tanya asked, curious now.

"It's all true, Tanya. This is no immortal child. She's half-human. Come. Look for yourself."

Tanya nodded, and it happened the same thing than with Eleazar and Carmen. There was no doubt in their minds after seeing what Renesmee showed them, and at the end they were so delighted with her as we had been the first time. Kate allowed her to show her the same thing, and believed it without no second thoughts. For a second, I thought that this wouldn't be as hard as we had thoughts. But then I remembered that Alice had left, and that possibilities should not be as good as we wanted to believe. Still, I allowed myself having hope.

"Thank you for listening," I told them honestly, Bella had her eyes on me, I could feel them.

_Your welcome, Edward. And I'm sorry for overreacting, but you know the reason,_ Tanya told me.

Then she spoke about the matter left. "But there is the grave danger you warned us of. Not directly from this child, I see, but surely from the Volturi, then. How did they find out about her? When are they coming?"

_It's too soon, isn't it? That's why Carlisle sounded so impatient._

"When Bella saw Irina that day in the mountains, she had Renesmee with her," I explained them, it was hard to me, and surely, that for them, too.

Kate was the first one in reacting, a hiss came out of her mouth and her eyes narrowed. "Irina did this? To you? To Carlisle? Irina?"

"No. Someone else..." Tanya whispered.

I had to say her name, and I tried to not make it noticeable how it hurt. "Alice saw her go to them."

"How could she do this thing?" Eleazar asked, more to himself than to get an answer.

But I didn't want them to believe that we hated her or something like that, and I tried they understood it. "Imagine if you had seen Renesmee only from a distance. If you had not waited for our explanation."

_Don't defend her, Edward. She doesn't deserve it._ Tanya thought sadly. "No matter what she thought... You are our family."

"There's nothing we can do about Irina's choice now. It's too late. Alice gave us a month," I told them, ending that issue.

_A month? Are you sure, Edward?_ Eleazar was feeling completely confused about the number.

Tanya and he leaned their heads aside, confused again. Kate only frowned a bit her forehead. It was very strange that they took so long.

"So long?" Eleazar was the one who asked.

"They are all coming. That must take some preparation."

Eleazar gasped, _No, it can't be... no..._ "The entire guard?"

"Not just the guard," I corrected him, if he was surprised, he would be much more so when he heard me. "Aro, Caius, Marcus. Even the wives."

"Impossible," Eleazar said, while everyone else were still trying to calm the shock they felt.

"I would have said the same two days ago."

_There must be some mistake, I don't understand._ Eleazar was thinking, his forehead wrinkled. "But that doesn't make any sense," her voice was a growl when it came out. "Why would they put themselves and the wives in danger?"

"It doesn't make sense from that angle. Alice said there was more to this than just punishment for what they think we've done. She thought you could help us."

"More than punishment? But what else is there?" Eleazar started asking himself what could it be that Alice meant, trying the answer to this. Walking from one side to the other, her eyebrows frowning, while he kept thinking what it was that Aro really wanted, he had no doubt that all of this was for him.

"Where are the others, Edward? Carlisle and Alice and the rest?" Tanya asked me, curious.

I hesitated on telling her what had happened, but the story was long and I didn't want to remember it, though it were already spinning in my head. "Looking for friends who might help us."

_Sure. This will be more difficult than it seems. It doesn't matter._

Tanya leaned towards me, her hands to the front, too. "Edward, no matter how many friends you gather, we can't help you win. We can only die with you. You must know that. Of course, perhaps the four of us deserve that after what Irina has done now, after how we've failed you in the past—for her sake that time as well."

I shook my head quickly, Tanya was thinking more ahead, on something we did not want to happen. "We're not asking you to fight and die with us, Tanya. You know

Carlisle would never ask for that."

"Then what, Edward?" Tanya asked.

"We're just looking for witnesses. If we can make them pause, just for a moment. If they would let us explain ..." I stopped for a second, I turned to Renesmee and touched gently her cheek.

_It's going to be fine, daddy._ Renesmee told me while she took my hand and held her on her skin.

"It's difficult to doubt our story when you see it for yourself." I finished.

"Do you think her past will matter to them so much?" Tanya asked again, while she nodded to what I had said.

"Only as it foreshadows her future," I answered. "The point of the restriction was to protect us from exposure, from the excesses of children who could not be tamed."

"I'm not dangerous at all," Renesmee spoke this time, having listened to what she was saying. "I never hurt Grandpa or Sue or Billy. I love humans. And wolf-people like my Jacob," in some other time, that would have bothered me, it would have caused me to boiled with rage, but now it was different. Renesmee released my hand to pat Jacob's arm who was inwardly jumping up and down when he heard Renesmee saying that she wanted him to other people.

_Mmm, what does she mean with _my Jacob_?_ They seemed to in sync Tanya's and Kate's thoughts, while they turned to see each other with a quick glance.

"If Irina had not come so soon, we could have avoided all of this. Renesmee grows at an unprecedented rate. By the time the month is past, she'll have gained another half year of development," I explained to them, with less difficulty than I would have thought.

When I was finished, Carmen said. "Well, that is something we can certainly witness. We'll be able to promise that we've seen her mature ourselves. How could the Volturi ignore such evidence?" her tone was one decided, Renesmee had won these four vampires as easily as if they were real family. Well, they were.

"How, indeed?" Eleazar whispered to himself, even in his assumptions.

"Yes, we can witness for you. Certainly that much. We will consider what more we might do," Tanya said, her thoughts were travelling much too fast to a direction that I didn't accept.

"Tanya," I said, interrupting her thoughts. "we don't expect you to fight with us."

"If the Volturi won't pause to listen to our witness, we cannot simply stand by," Tanya insisted, and with that, we couldn't say anything. She was right. "Of course, I should only speak for myself."

_What? Of course not._ Kate thought, almost feeling insulted while she snorted when listening to Tanya. "Do you really doubt me so much, sister?"

Tanya turned to see her with a big smile. "It is a suicide mission, after all."

_After everything Irina did, it's the least we can do._ The two of them were thinking the same thing, and I knew that even if I insisted, I wouldn't make them change their minds. Kate smiled hugely at her, and then she shrugged, unworriedly. "I'm in."

"I, too, will do what I can to protect the child," Carmen spoke, the three of them speaking seriously. Then, her thoughts came back to the present and to Renesmee, she stretched out her arms towards her, suddenly, anxious to hold Renesmee with her. "May I hold you, bebé linda?"

Renesmee didn't think twice about it, she stretched out her arms to Carmen and Bella let her.

All the while, Carmen was whispering to her in Spanish, and Renesmee, surprising me, seemed to absorb every word with an astonishing speed.

Jacob shuddered a little bit, and then he calmed down, knowing that these were friends, family.

Everything was going fine, until here.

But, what about tomorrow, when everyone else arrived? Would it be just like with Tanya?

I allowed myself to let the hope blossomed in myself for a second, and to believe that everything would turn out well, before really worrying. Because when that worry came, it would be worse than what I had already experienced. Because it would not only be Bella's life that was in danger, but my daughter's. My whole family's.

Yes, just for a moment.

Then I saw Bella's face, a light filled her eyes for a few seconds, and then it turned off.

I felt that way. Turned off.

Would we survive to this? Could we save our daughter?

* * *

**Did you like it? Or at least did you not hate it?**

**Now the interesting part is beginning, all the worry and angst and stuff.**

**Hope you enjoyed it :)**


	32. Chapter 31, TALENTED

**Hi guys!**

**Thank God I finished writing this chapter, I swear I thought I wouldn't! It took me like forever. Well, not really. I literally write it all today, but I've been trying to get it done for the past couple of weeks. Doesn't matter, anyway, it's ready now.**

**And I want to dedicate this chapter to the next readers who reviewed the last chapter: sholtsclaw698, missionarycook (you're a very faithful reader, thanks so much :), Lexi123456789000, katt, Serenity05, SonofHell666, Twilove forever munkjis!**

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**Last, hope you enjoy it. =D I will be waiting your precious reviews.**

* * *

CHAPTER 31. Talented

At least, besides Tanya's family was willing to make what we were asking them for and even more than what was necessary for the moment and I was hoping it was going to be the same way when the moment arrived, I was glad they were here. Renesmee was delighted of seeing the reaction of them all towards her, of seeing that they all did like her, and she was listening charmed every word that Carmen whispered to her in Spanish.

I just heard for a few seconds the charismatic mind of Renesmee, how all the problems and fears got erased from her mind for a moment, and how everything seemed to go back to how it was before.

I smiled lightly, and then landed back to earth again.

There was no room for anyone else in this room to be able to be happy or dream with pretty stuff, more than Renesmee, she was the one who deserved to keep living like a little child girl, like a baby if it would have been possible. Like someone normal. She deserved normality. As much as she could, it was only necessary to look around her, werewolves, vampires...

Reading her mind, and how happy she was because of the smallest things, it provoked me tenderness towards my daughter. What other feeling could it cause such a little and defenseless girl?

Tanya watched for a second to Jacob, wondering what he was doing here.

Jacob, the same thing I would have wondered myself a few months ago. But what Jacob felt towards my daughter, was no more different than what Bella and I felt towards her. For now, it seemed like Renesmee was his sister, and that, in other situation, would have been weird.

_The other time they called them because we refused to help them, but now we're here..._ Tanya was musing, trying to understand Jacob's presence.

_Such a nice girl..._ Carmen was still entertained with Renesmee in her arms, Kate had come closer, also to them.

_How could there be something any more beautiful than this little child?_ Kate was thinking while she smiled at her by Carmen's side.

Renesmee, just like she had done with our family, had won over Tanya's family now.

"Justo como tu padre, la cara, el color del cabello; pero esos ojos marrón chocolate de tu mami," Carmen was whispering the same things she had already said in Spanish while she was looking the physical characteristics Renesmee had inherited from both her parents. "Ciertamente eres una especial. Preciosa."

"Casi eres hipnótica, pequeña"

Tanya, without finding an answer to her doubt, she spoke to me finally. _Fine, I give up, Edward, I don't understand._

"What is the werewolves' part in this?" she asked while seeing at Jacob.

_Let me explain,_ Jacob told me, as if it were complicated and only he could do it. "If the Volturi won't stop to listen about Nessie," _oops,_ "I mean Renesmee, we will stop them."

_Nessie, huh?_

"Very brave, child," Tanya said, a little bit upset for what she had heard. "but that would be impossible for more experienced fighters than you are."

_But he said we, how many are they, Edward?_

"You don't know what we can do," Jacob answered back, before he could say something to Tanya that didn't have any point. It didn't really matter.

_Whatever..._ Tanya thought while she shrugged. "It is your own life, certainly, to spend as you choose."

Jacob, instead of answering something to Tanya's comment, he returned his look towards Renesmee.

Even if I had not been able to read his mind, I would have known what was inside of him. His eyes were saying everything he wanted, Renesmee as simple as that was, having her near again, and maybe with the vampire's stench. He was already used to that, but just the fact that it wasn't from any member of our family or us, made Jacob to complain.

Tanya saw where Jacob's eyes went, and she recognized the emotion in it, too. The same emotion was seen reflected on Carmen and Kate.

"She is special," Tanya said, her mind was still thinking on how easy she had won them over. "that little one. Hard to resist."

_Even the werewolf is bewitched..._

What Tanya did not know, was that Jacob wasn't just bewitched by Renesmee. It didn't have anything to do with that at all. But with something as powerful as what I felt towards Bella.

_Mmm, she's so right. More than what they imagine, the whole family._ Eleazar was thinking.

Before he said anything, I thought he meant the whole family, but when he began speaking, I noticed he didn't.

"A very talented family," my forehead wrinkled a little bit, while I was listening to Eleazar and I kept seeing him, he was walking faster to the door and then to Carmen, back and forth in barely a second. "A mind reader for a father, a shield for a mother," What? "and then whatever magic this extraordinary child has bewitched us with."

I was listening to Eleazar and what he was thinking about my family, almost far away now, it was still spinning around in my head:

_A shield for a mother._

What did he mean? A shield?

How could Bella be a shield? Did he mean her gift?

For a second, I remembered the day in which Carlisle had said that her gift was her super self-control.

"I wonder if there is a name for what she does," Eleazar kept saying. "or if it is the norm for a hybrid vampire. As if such a thing could ever be considered normal! A vampire hybrid, indeed!"

His advancing from side to side was almost making me dizzy now, with new stuff in my head.

Could it be? Was that...?

"Excuse me," I said, talking to Eleazar now. If it was what he thought, I had to find out. I raised my hand and placed it on his shoulder so he would stop. "What did you just call my wife?"

Kate and Carmen were suddenly interested on what was happening on this side of the room.

_Why is he so surprised?_ Kate wondered, seeing my reaction.

Eleazar looked at me, his eyes full with curiosity, his mind with confusion.

_What? It's the surest thing, Edward. I think so, at least._ He assured me, as if I were sure or knew what he was talking about.

"A shield, I think. She's blocking me now, so I can't be sure." Eleazar finally said.

A shield?

How could she be a shield? Maybe Carlisle had been wrong, then; it had always seemed to me that the super self-control they bragged Bella had as her gift, had never fully convinced me. Bella had had too much time of preparation, she knew how hard would it be once she woke up and everything she felt were that endless thirst. She had accepted that, and she had prepared herself, she had been in guard to any problem that could present to her.

That's why it had been so easy for her to escape from the smell of human blood in her first hunting trip.

I then remembered the day in which I had come back to Forks, Bella had been sitting with Jessica and her look had been mine again.

_What was she thinking? The frustration seemed to be getting more acute as time went on, rather than dulling. I tried—uncertain on what I was doing for I'd never tried this before—to probe with my mind at the silence around her. My extra hearing had always come to me naturally, without asking; I'd never had to work at it. But I concentrated now, trying to break through whatever shield surrounded her._

_Nothing but silence._

Whatever shield surrounded her...

The words were repeating themselves in my mind, by not having considered that before. I wouldn't have had to do that, I had never crossed a word with Bella, and much less having considered that I would fall in love with her some day, and we would get to this point. That thought I had had it before having that first Biology class together where I finally behaved civilly with her, trying to erase the first impression I had left her with on her first day of classes in Forks High School.

I had had the answer in my mind for less of a second, probably, and I never thought of it that way again.

"A shield?" I repeated, my voice confused.

_Please, Edward. I cannot believe that you didn't knew._ Eleazar insisted in his mind. _It's ridiculous._

When he saw that my expression didn't change, he changed his channel of communication. "Come now, Edward! If I can't get a read on her, I doubt you can, either. Can you hear her thoughts right now?"

"No," I answered.

_There,_ Eleazar thought, his tone seemed to say: it was obvious that you couldn't.

What Eleazar didn't know, was that it wasn't just right now that I couldn't have access to Bella's thoughts.

"But I've never been able to do that. Even she was human," I explained to him, and now the confused one was him.

_What?_

Impressed at the same time, too. "Never?" his eyes blinked.

_Are you sure?_ It was almost dumb to ask that, as if he were doubting I was saying the truth.

Tanya and Kate started to listen more intently to what was happening. Considering what Eleazar was saying, and how good this would turn out to be against the Volturi. Jane and Alec, especially.

But how could it be that way?

Bella could protect herself, yes. That was good, but I wondered why did it suddenly seem to be another tone of hope in Kate's thoughts?

I didn't quite understand.

Before keeping the speculation, Eleazar started speaking.

"Interesting," Eleazar continued. "That would indicate a rather powerful latent talent, if it was

manifesting so clearly even before the transformation," I heard very much intently to what he was saying. Everything else passed to second place in my mind while I was listening to him. "I can't feel a way through her shield to get a sense of it at all. Yet she must be raw still—she's only a few months old."

Eleazar looked at me again, _it's amazing, Edward. Neither you nor her knowing it. If Aro finds out about this, you know what'll happen?_

My eyes narrowed, I did not want to think about that.

I didn't want to, because I did know what would happen. Just like Eleazar was thinking, Aro was very interested on knowing how Bella and her little _talent_ developed once she was immortal.

I had seen it when he touched her and couldn't see anything that time in Volterra.

Now it seemed, that it wasn't just Renesmee I should have hidden from his knowledge, but Bella too. This was getting worse every time.

"And apparently completely unaware of what she's doing. Totally unconscious. Ironic. Aro sent me all over the world searching for such anomalies, and you simply stumble across it by accident and don't even realize what you have." Eleazar finished his speech, shaking his head. It was almost impossible to him to believe that I didn't know anything at all about this.

But, in fact, I didn't know.

I was so lost in my thoughts and what I was seeing in Eleazar, another kinds of shield he knew about and he had catalogued while he were with the Volturi. All of them were so much different to what Bella could do, that I could barely believe she was actually a shield.

How could I have imagined that was her talent?

For a second, I imagined the reaction that our family would have. Carlisle, especially.

"What are you talking about?" I heard Bella asking. "How can I be a shield? What does that even mean?"

_Mmm, how strong would it be?_ Eleazar was wondering while he watched Bella.

"I suppose we were overly formal about it in the guard," Eleazar started explaining to Bella. "In truth, categorizing talents is a subjective, haphazard business; every talent is unique, never exactly the same thing twice. But you, Bella, are fairly easy to classify. Talents that are purely defensive, that protect some aspect of the bearer, are always called shields. Have you ever tested your abilities? Blocked anyone besides me and your mate?"

There was a complete silence for a few seconds, while Bella said something. Anything.

I didn't know how good could this turn out to be, how strong her should was to defend her. Maybe what she had said, what she had asked me about, if she could block out Alec, if it was that way…

No, but I knew well what would happen if Bella found herself alone, standing in front of the Volturi, in front of Demetri or Felix, without anyone to protect he. As soon as they realized that Bella wasn't affected by Alec's gift, they would kill her without opportunity of making it painless.

Suddenly, I was anxious for her shield to not be strong enough as to protect her.

At least she wouldn't suffer.

But again I found myself being selfish. It was just that I didn't bear the idea of someone making Bella suffer in any way.

Before I could worry any more, Bella finally spoke up. "It only works with certain things. My head is sort of… private. But it doesn't stop Jasper from being able to mess with my mood or Alice from seeing my future."

_Like I thought, yes indeed._

"Purely a mental defense," Eleazar whispered, nodding. "Limited, but strong."

I had to know how good this was that we were finding out about, before I would go crazy thinking on Bella defenseless before those who didn't need of a mental power to hurt whoever it was that could stop them. From someone that could hurt her physically, and not mentally, with an illusion…

"Aro couldn't hear her. Though she was human when they met," I told Eleazar.

His eyes opened wide, shocked.

_That is… amazing._ Eleazar thought.

"Jane tried to hurt me, but she couldn't," Bella said, bringing back to my mind that day, the horror I had felt when I saw what Aro would ask Jane. In that moment, I was too much content with Bella's shield, that would set her away from Jane's look, at least. "Edward thinks Demetri can't find me and than Alec can't bother me, either? Is that good?"

Eleazar was now openly gaping while Bella finished speaking.

The way in which he was impressed, made it difficult to consider something wrong on this. I could only be proud – if that was the right word – of what Bella seemed to be able to do.

Everything I cared about, was that she could protect herself from the Volturi powers. And it seemed like she could.

Now, my impression, was as strong as it had been Eleazar's at first. I couldn't believe that I had not realized about that. I had been, always, so busy on another different aspects of Bella, always complaining of not being able of reading her mind, then accepting that that was how Bella wanted it to be and it was, that I couldn't do anything to change it, that I got used to it. I didn't try to find it an explanation, and I doubted that I would have found it if I would have committed to find it, anyway; like I had done at the beginning.

_I didn't want to develop any kind of interest in her hidden thoughts simply because they were hidden from me. No doubt, when I did decipher her thoughts—and I would find a way to do so—they would be just as petty and trivial as any human's thoughts. Not worth the effort I would expend to reach them._

How wrong I had been!

"A shield!" I exclaimed, excited of knowing that Bella _was_ capable of defending herself from what the most of vampires could do. "I never thought of it that way. The only I've ever met was Renata, and what she did was so different."

_Ahm, yes, it's true. But I think you understand why._ Eleazar thought, more calmed now.

"Yes, no talent ever manifests in precisely the same way, because no one ever thinks in exactly the same way."

_It's interesting, Edward. I think that with Bella on our side…_ Eleazar was beginning when Bella spoke.

"Who's Renata?" Bella asked. "What does she do?"

_Mommy's talented,_ Renesmee was thinking with joy and curiosity while she leaned to the side so she could see and listen better to our conversation. Carmen and Kate barely noticed her attitude and position.

_A shield?_ Jacob wondered. _What do they mean with that?_ He complained, while in his mind appeared a medieval shield.

I suppressed a fit of laughter.

"Renata is Aro's personal bodyguard," Eleazar answered to her, his thoughts were comparing both shield while he spoke. "A very practical kind of shield, and a very strong one."

Bella didn't answer at all, she seemed to be concentrating on something else. Maybe she was trying to remember the faces she had seen on that single day in Volterra. The entire collection of Aro's vampires had been there, the best ones were always at his range of sight, of course.

Just like it would be when they came for us.

I could imagine the confidence that Aro had that, whatever he wanted, would turn out perfectly well. Either slaving Alice, or destroy…

But I couldn't even think on what Aro wanted besides Alice.

I was terrified of his plans coming true, that all our efforts were made nothing to them. Yes, we only wanted them to stop, and to listen, to understand that it was a mistake what they were doing, that we had not broken any rule…

But, what if they didn't stop?

There wouldn't be much we could do in that case. Only Alec would make us turn into complete defenseless to them.

"I wonder…" Eleazar whispered, breaking the train of thoughts in my mind. "You see, Renata is a powerful shield against a physical attack. If someone approaches her—or Aro, as she is always close beside him in a hostile situation—they find themselves… diverted. There's a force around her that repels, though it's almost unnoticeable. You simply find yourself going a different direction than you planned, with a confused memory as to why you wanted to go that other way in the first place. She can project her shield several meters out from herself. She also protects Caius and Marcus, too, when they have a need, but Aro is her priority."

_Could Bella do it?_ Kate wondered while Eleazar kept talking. _Could she project her shield like Renata does?_

"What she does isn't actually physical, though. Like the vast majority of our gifts, it takes place inside the mind. If she tried to keep you back, I wonder who would win?" Eleazar murmured, shaking his head. I was only half paying attention to his words, still thinking on what Kate had been thinking. "I've never heard of Aro's or Jane's gifts being thwarted."

A new plan was sort of wanting to form in my head. I tried to push it to the bottom of my mind, I didn't want to think of Bella as a diversion, much less that she had that responsibility.

Renesmee talked for the first time since Carmen had taken her in her arms. "Momma, you're special."

Her tones, her voice, her thoughts were saying the same thing, and it wasn't something that surprised her. It was as if she herself had been expecting someone to tell Bella she was special, like she had already said, like she had already known without needing to have it confirmed.

I was happy to see that she had something in common with her mom, Bella had told her that she was special, that it didn't have anything wrong, and that excited her.

What if Bella could project? Could she protect, even if it was only Renesmee?

I didn't care about anything else, and if Bella could do it without needing to be in the field battle, without needing to risk herself... it was almost selfish to not want Bella to risk herself even when the risk was to save Renesmee. But I couldn't help but wishing that. If I could, I would sacrifice for both of them, but I knew that wasn't possible. Bella wouldn't allow it, like I wouldn't allow her to do it in her place.

I was battling with my thoughts, right now, I didn't know what to think of anything.

Luckily, Kate spoke, and I stopped myself from what I was thinking to listen to what she was about to ask Bella, "Can you project?"

_It'd be very helpful if you could..._ Kate was thinking while she was waiting for Bella's answer.

I was almost sure of what answer Bella would give, she didn't even know she had a gift, that it was the super self-control Carlisle had talked about.

How did she expect her to know, what it even was, project?

"Project?" Bella asked, confused.

_Do you know how helpful would it if Bella could do that?_ Eleazar told me, thinking on how convenient would it be, Jane's and Alec's gifts would turn ineffective towards us, thanks to Bella. They would be in disadvantage, or at least we wouldn't.

"Push it out from yourself. Shield someone besides yourself," Kate said.

"I don't know," Bella answered. "I've never tried. I didn't know I should do that."

"Oh," Kate exclaimed, while she remembered the time it had taken her to control and project her gift. If Bella didn't know, according to her, she didn't think there were much hope that she learnt in less than a month. "you might not be able to."

_A shame..._

"Heavens knows I've been working on it for centuries and the best I can do is run a current over my skin."

Bella didn't answer, her face was showing confusion.

_Why does she seem to not understand anything I'm saying?_ Kate wondered.

Ah, right, Bella had no idea that Kate had a gift, too. It had never come up in a conversation that fact.

"Kate's got an offensive skill," I quickly explained to her. "Sort of like Jane."

I knew before saying it, the reaction Bella would have when hearing it. She shuddered and took a step back away from Kate. I smiled a bit.

_Oh, thank you. Now she fears me._ Kate joked.

Before answering, Kate laughed and told Bella. "I'm not sadistic about it. It's just something that comes in handy during a fight."

Bella didn't answer anything to that, and her face became absolutely still, without emotions that I could identify, but I could see that she was thinking on something, because the little V that appeared between her eyes was there again.

Carmen was again more interested on Renesmee than in the conversation that was being developed between Kate and Bella. Eleazar was listening, but he was thinking more in the Volturi.

_I don't understand. This isn't the way they work in, I know it's been years since I left the guard, but... _Eleazar was struggling for understanding, and he didn't seem to achieve it.

Now he was twice as confused, he had a slight idea of what could be happening.

With what Kate had said, with reminding him Jane – though there was no need to do it – surely Bella was thinking about her gift, about projecting it, about protecting someone else than just her.

I was starting to get worried that Bella were going to get anxious to help in a different way than she had been thinking of, I didn't want her to begin with her most-of-the-time crazy and dangerous ideas. But when something got in her mind, it was difficult, almost impossible to make her change her mind. I only had to see to the evidence from these two years.

How many dangerous and reckless things she had done?

_Perhaps it is not just punishment what they want,_ the thought that was now crossing through Eleazar's mind caught my attention, _if Aro's also coming, this has happened before... no, no, no._

"You have to teach me what to do!" I heard Bella saying, and then pulling on Kate's arm. It didn't seem like Bella were aware of the movement. "You have to teach me how!"

Just like I had feared.

_Auch,_ Kate complained, because of Bella's pull and why her current didn't work with her, it seemed.

I shuddered along Kate. "Maybe – if you stop trying to crush my radius."

"Oops! Sorry!" Bella whispered while releasing Kate.

"You're shielding, all right," Kate said, still surprised by the lack of reaction from Bella. "That move should have about shocked your arm off. You didn't feel anything just now?"

I was still tense for what Kate had done, thought I knew now that Bella shouldn't have felt anything. It was like a reflex reaction. "That wasn't really necessary, Kate."

_Oh, I know, Edward. But I was trying to test how strong she is. I'm sorry, okay?_ Kate apologized.

_What does Aro want? Alice? Edward? Maybe even Bella, he should have known she'd be special when she were immortal._ Eleazar was still speculating.

"No, I didn't feel anything," Bella said, and I felt relieved. Even when I knew that my worries were almost silly. "Were you doing your electric current thing?"

"I was," Kate answered, considering something more now. "Hmm. I've never met anyone who couldn't feel it, immortal or otherwise."

"You said you project it? On your skin?" Bella asked.

"It used to be just in my palms," Kate said, nodding. "Kind of like Aro."

"Or Renesmee," I mentioned.

_Of course,_ Kate thought.

"But after a lot of practice," Kate started.

_Too much practice,_ Tanya thought jokingly.

"I can radiate the current all over my body," Kate continued explaining. "It's a good defense. Anyone who tries to touch me drops like a human that's been Tasered. It only downs him for a second, but that's long enough."

Again, Bella didn't say anything. Her head nodded, but she didn't seem aware of that.

Meanwhile, Eleazar was still thinking on the Volturi.

Every passing second everything was taking some sense, and it turned it more confusing. Because it was the attitude and the way in which they were acting now like didn't seem to be what he had been a part of sometime.

Thought there were no similarities.

He wasn't sure that this was about a punishment for what they think we had done. There was something else, just like Alice had told us.

Did he want her?

Maybe she truly had seen it happened, and that's why she'd gone away.

That's why she had asked us to ask Eleazar.

What else had she seen she hadn't told us about?

_But, Alice isn't here. Well, he doesn't know. Maybe I am wrong. It doesn't have to be this way. Maybe Aro only wants to make sure thing go well. After all, Carlisle is a friend of him. Not always he's coming is because he wants someone.._

"Can you think of even one exception, though?" I asked him, wishing that he were more right than ever before.

Everyone's attention centered around us.

Jacob was the only one who was half-paying attention to what was being discussed. It was very little what he understood. His mind was divided between the conversations and Renesmee. But it was more he heard from her, than from us.

Carmen, was probably, the one who understood the most.

_Edward, it's a hard situation._ Eleazar thought, not very happy – at this moment – that I could read his mind.

"I don't want to think of them that way," Eleazar said through clenched teeth.

_I don't like at all that it could really be that way._ His thoughts seemed to be considering what he himself had thought, as if it was someone else's idea.

"If you're right-" Eleazar began, and I realized the reason of his thoughts.

"The thought was yours," I interrupted him. "not mine."

"If I'm right... I can't even grasp what that would mean. It would change everything about the world we've created. It would change the meaning of my life. What I have been a part of."

"Your intentions were always the best, Eleazar," I assured him. I knew his mind, and I knew he was a good person. And if the Volturi had fooled him, he had not been part of the cruelty that could be in them.

_Ah, were they?_

Kate and everyone else were still confused, they weren't sure of what we were talking about.

_What is happening?_

"Would that even matter? What have I done? How many lives..."

_How many lives? I don't understand._ Tanya reached her limit.

While Eleazar was still feeling regrets, Tanya placed a hand on Eleazar's shoulder. "What did we miss, my friend?" Tanya asked. "I want to know so that I can argue with these thoughts. You've never done anything worth castigating yourself this way."

"Oh, haven't I?"

While she was saying that, Eleazar took himself out of the gesture Tanya had showed him, and he returned to go from side to side, faster than before this time.

_Eleazar?_ Carmen asked, watching her expression and what he had said. _Are you alright?_

_Mmm_, Tanya whispered in her mind, seeing Eleazar for half a second before she returned to me to ask me an explanation. _Well, Edward..._ "Explain."

My eyes had not left Eleazar since he started moving again, I was still reading the riot that was in his mind now.

_This is much, much worse than what it would have been if this all was just about an immortal child..._

I nodded before starting explaining what was happening to Eleazar. "He was trying to understand why so many of the Volturi would come to punish us," I said, my mind was divided in two parts. "It's not the way they do things. Certainly, we are the biggest mature coven they've dealt with, but in the past other covens have joined to protect themselves," something I was sure it wouldn't happen with us. I would rather die before joining to Aro's and the others' guard and orders. "and they never presented much of a challenge despite their numbers. We are more closely bonded, and that's a factor, but not a huge one."

_Well, he isn't the only one trying._ I heard Tanya thinking, Jacob – for the first time – was intent on what I was saying, and his thoughts were far from disagreeing.

Kate, on the other side, _it's not difficult if you think it through. But it's confusing._ It seemed like Kate too thought that the surest thing was that Aro wanted to acquire some of the Cullens. And there three talents in our family: Alice's, Jasper's and mine.

I didn't want to listen to Kate thinking of that, I didn't even want to think if myself, so I continued.

"He was remembering other times that covens have been punished, for one thing or the other, and a pattern occurred to him. It was a pattern that the rest of the guard would never have noticed, since Eleazar was the one passing the pertinent intelligence privately to Aro. A pattern that only repeated every other century or so."

"What was this pattern?" Carmen asked.

_What is it that Eleazar hasn't told us, Edward?_ Carmen asked me in her mind, her eyes following Eleazar, too. Trying to understand what I was saying.

"Aro does not often personally attend an expedition," I answered to Carmen, and everyone else too. "But in the past," I was nearing the part I didn't like and the reason – most likely – of why Alice had left. "when Aro wanted something in particular, it was never long before evidence turned up proving that this coven or that coven had committed some unpardonable crime. The ancients would decide to go along to watch the guard administer justice."

_Just like with you, Edward..._ Tanya thought horrified.

"And then, once the coven was all but destroyed, Aro would grant a pardon to one member whose thoughts, he would claim, were particularly repentant. Always, it would turn out that this vampire had the gift Aro had admired. Always, this person was given a place with the guard. The gifted vampire was won over quickly, always so grateful for the honor. There were no exceptions."

_It's what always being heard,_ Tanya thought. _Everyone who is with the Volturi, feel honored._

"It must be a heady thing to be chosen," Kate commented.

_Yeah, right._ "Ha!" Eleazar exclaimed, growling.

Kate and Tanya raised an eyebrow, and Carmen saw with more intensity the reaction that Eleazar had had.

_Would you go on?_ The sisters asked, waiting for an explanation.

"There is one among the guard," I started telling them. "Her name is Chelsea. She has influence over the emotional ties between people. She can both loosen and secure these ties. She could make someone feel bonded to the Volturi, to want to belong, to want to please them..."

_They need a wider explanation._ Eleazar told me while I was finishing talking. _Understand._

Eleazar stopped without prior warning, and started talking about Chelsea himself. "We all understood why Chelsea was important. In a fight, if we could separate allegiances between allied covens, we could defeat them that much more easily. If we could distance the innocent members of a coven emotionally from the guilty, justice could be done without unnecessary brutality—the guilty could be punished without interference, and the innocent could be spared. Otherwise, it was impossible to keep the coven from fighting as a whole. So Chelsea would break the ties that bound them together. It seemed a great kindness to me, evidence of Aro's mercy. I did suspect that Chelsea kept our own band more tightly knit, but that, too, was a good thing. It made us more effective. It helped us coexist more easily."

_It's a good thing for the Volturi, but for us..._ Tanya was thinking, worried.

Everyone was beginning to consider how bad would that be for us if we faced against the Volturi when the time arrived.

_This is getting worse every time. We won't survive if it comes to a fight, then?_ Kate was wondering, but curiously, she was more worried about Renesmee's life than her own. She seemed – just like Tanya – to believe that if she they died, they had it deserved for having _betrayed_ our family, for having given us their back when we had most needed them.

I would have said something, but Tanya spoke first. "How strong is her gift?" her tone showed the worry there was in them. Her eyes looked over Kate's face, and then Carmen's, Eleazar's and mine. Thinking on what would happen if Chelsea could break our friendship and family bonds.

I noticed that her eyes didn't stop on Bella's face, but I didn't see anything else.

As an answer, Eleazar shrugged and said. "I was able to leave with Carmen," he shook his head while he considered how strong it could be, and then he decided she couldn't do anything against us, or at least against our family. "But anything weaker than the bond between partners is in danger. In a normal coven, at least. Those are weaker bonds than those in our family, though. Abstaining from human blood makes us more civilized—lets us form true bonds of love. I doubt she could turn our allegiances, Tanya."

_Well, that's a relief._ Tanya thought, while she nodded.

_At least your family is formed by only couples, right, Edward?_ Jacob joked, commenting something for the first time. His mind thinking on Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, and then Bella and I. He tried to avoid thinking on Alice and Jasper, but he couldn't help it. _It's a good thing they left, after all they would have take them apart from us, maybe._

Eleazar returned to the main subject. The reason why Aro was coming himself and with the entire guard, even Caius and Marcus and the wives.

"I could only think that the reason Aro had decided to come himself, to bring so many with him, is because his goal is not punishment but acquisition. He needs to be there to control the situation," Eleazar said, finally finding the answer that we so much wished. We all had considered it, maybe, but it was having it confirmed now what Eleazar was saying. "But he needs the entire guard for protection from such a large, gifted coven. On the other hand, that leaves the other ancients unprotected in Volterra. Too risky—someone might try to take advantage. So they all come together. How else could he be sure to preserve the gifts that he wants? He must want them very badly."

Then, what Carlisle and I had suspected from the beginning, seemed to become true.

"_Would they have been able to surprise her?" Carlisle asked me._

"_I don't see how. But Aro knows her better than anyone else. Better than I do."_

I remembered when Carlisle had asked me that, he had been faster in considering that that was probably what had happened.

Maybe when he came back, he wouldn't be surprised he was right.

Who did I want to fool? We were all surprised.

So when I finally spoke, my voice was barely a whisper. "From what I saw of his thoughts last spring, Aro's never wanted anything more than he wants Alice."

_Jane and Alec?_ Eleazar wondered. The twins, were to Aro, the best thing he had ever had.

I heard Bella gasping lightly, her mouth was open when I turned to see her. Her eyes were horrified, and I could imagine the reason.

"_So what do we do with you now?"_ Aro had asked, while we had been in Volterra. _"I don't suppose there's any chance that you've changed your mind?"_ he had asked me. _"Your talent would be an excellent addition to our little company."_

_"I'd… rather… not."_

The hope in Aro when he had asked me had been the most noticeable in his tone than when he had asked Alice, but his mind couldn't hide it completely, he wished as he had never wish never before to get a positive response, even when he knew that the possibilities weren't very good. _"Alice? Would you perhaps be interested in joining with us?"_

_"No, thank you."_

And now, like before, hadn't been just the gifts that were already at his reach, but the one that could be in a future.

_"And you, Bella?"_ Aro had dared, even knowing, that if neither Alice nor me had accepted, much less Bella would. But his curiosity was stronger, and I was sure that one of the things he was expecting to see here when they arrived, was to see in what Bella had turned out to be, which was her so much special gift as to not allow him to be able to see inside of her mind.

"Is that why Alice left?" Bella asked me, interrupting those terrible memories of that afternoon in Volterra. Her voice, trembling, broke when she pronounced Alice's name.

_What? What does she mean with Alice left?_ Kate wondered.

_Alice left?_

I was sure that her memories would tell her enough from that day, and what she had remembered with so much clarity. I put my hand gently on her cheek, and I answered her. "I think it must be. To keep Aro from gaining the thing he wants most of all. To keep her power out of his hands."

"Alice left?" Kate whispered, her eyes on Tanya.

Tanya shook her head, and her forehead wrinkled. "I don't understand. Maybe she saw him."

"But, Tanya..."

"No, Kate. Alice would never abandon Carlisle and Edward."

"Then she did see them. Aro surely wants her as Eleazar suspects."

"This is terrible."

"He wants you, too," Bella whispered, her voice full of worry.

That comment made Renesmee's head turned towards her. She understood perfectly well of what we were talking about, and when she heard Bella saying that, it worried her like it did to anyone else, like it worried Bella.

_Daddy? No, not my daddy..._

_You, too, Edward? You should have mentioned it._ Eleazar almost chided me for having left out that part.

I shrugged, almost like an answer to both, Bella and Eleazar. "Not nearly as much," I answered. "I can't really give him anything more than he already has. And of course that's dependent on his finding a way to force me to do his will. He knows me, and he knows how unlikely that is."

Deeply, I knew that Aro – now – knew the perfect way to force me.

Bella.

And soon, he would have another reason: Renesmee.

_Edward, please! You can't fool anyone, much less you mater..._ Eleazar thought, frowning.

Jacob spoke to me, again. _This time, it isn't better protect her than keep her informed._ He told me, remembering that day in which I had hidden from Bella Victoria's return, and that Jacob had managed to let her know that.

"He also knows your weaknesses," Eleazar commented, his eyes turning to Bella.

_And _her _weaknesses._ Eleazar said in his mind, thinking of Bella.

He was right, I knew, but I didn't want to get Bella more worries. I knew that if Aro wanted to force me to do something, the only thing he had to do was to threaten Bella, and I would do anything, no matter how stupid or dangerous it was, or how opposed to my believing it was.

Yes, I knew.

And I also knew, that Bella would do the same thing if she were in my place.

"It's nothing we need to discuss now," I said as quickly as I could.

_It is necessary, and you know; though you don't like it._ Eleazar contradicted me and continued despite my grimace of upset. "He probably wants your mate, too, regardless. He must have been intrigued by a talent that could defy him in its human incarnation."

Eleazar seemed to not listen that I didn't want to talk about that, or that I didn't want Bella to listen to any of that; that maybe Aro wanted Bella, too.

Renesmee tensed when she heard Eleazar, another person that I didn't want her to get worried of being in danger of losing her mother. Because it would definitely not happen. I would never allow something like that happened. Jacob also worried, and it seemed like that emotion was spreading on our family.

When it came to the Volturi, it was difficult to feel different.

Another thought passed through my mind, and I mentioned it to Eleazar. "I think the Volturi were waiting for this—for some pretext. They couldn't know what form their excuse would come in, but the plan was already in place for when it did come. That's why Alice saw their decision before Irina triggered it. The decision was already made, just waiting for the pretense of a justification."

Eleazar didn't say anything, noticing himself, that what I was saying had some sense, and that probably, was the most certain.

Everyone was beginning to notice things that not even before they had considered possible.

Carmen was the first one on making it known. "If the Volturi are abusing the trust all immortals have placed in them…"

_Thought it doesn't make much difference, anyway,_ Carmen thought while she stopped.

Eleazar seemed to agree with her. "Does it matter? Who would believe it? And even if others could be convinced that the Volturi are exploiting their power, how would it make any difference? No one can stand against them."

_Oh, Eleazar... didn't you hear us before?_ Kate almost complained inwardly.

"Though some of us are apparently insane enough to try," Kate muttered.

_Mmm, yes, she's right._

Tanya agreed with her, of course. _Of course we are, sister... now more than ever._

Carmen, with Renesmee in arms, also agreed. _Everything for this little girl._

I was still thinking the way, and thought I knew that I wouldn't make them change their minds, I could help but reminding them what I had already told them. "You're only here to witness, Kate," I told her, shaking my head. "Whatever Aro's goal,"

_Witnessing, fighting, whatever, Edward. Get used to it..._ Kate thought.

Still, I kept speaking. "I don't think he's ready to tarnish the Volturi's reputation for it. If we can take away his argument against us, he'll be forced to leave us in peace."

"Of course," Tanya said, but in her mind she complemented it.

No, they were not going to give up.

Anyone else spoke for a few minutes, everyone was submerged on their own thoughts.

Listening to my cousins' stubbornness distracted me for several seconds, so at first I didn't listen to the thoughts coming closer from the highway.

"_Which would it be Alice's hurry, Peter?"_

"_Mmm, I don't know. I can't be sure. But she wouldn't have insisted so much if it weren't something bad."_

Charlotte nodded, and said. _"I bet it's about the Volturi. What else could it be more dangerous to the Cullens, don't you think?"_

Alice and Jasper?

I couldn't see if they were bringing news from them, if they knew where they had left to or if they had told them something more from them. But it didn't seem likely.

They didn't even have any idea of why they were here, just like Tanya and her family.

Kate and Tanya were in sync, at least on this subject: fighting by our side if it got to that point.

Eleazar, too, was willing to fight, now more than ever before. After discovering – if you could say it that way – what the Volturi were actually doing with the trust the immortal had laid upon them and their way of ruling our world. It was nothing close to what he once thought he supported. Now it seemed like his whole life had been a lie, he felt worse than what he let everyone else see, as if he had been betrayed and fooled in the worst way. There was some truth in that.

Carmen, holding Renesmee in her arms yet, was divided in two parts. A part was thinking on what it would be necessary to save Renesmee if the Volturi didn't stop or didn't listen to what we had to tell them; and the other part, she was worried about Eleazar.

She better than anyone else – that couldn't listen to his mind – knew how he was feeling in these moments.

_Even if they understood Renesmee is not an immortal child... would they really leave and leave us alone?_

_Fight and die, it's the least we can do to for this wonderful little baby._

_How could Irina have done this? I still can't believe it..._

Eleazar, Carmen and Kate were concentrated on the present situation, just Tanya – surprisingly – was thinking on something completely different.

And thought she knew I could hear her, she didn't seem aware of that. As if she had forgotten about it.

_A daughter... a daughter of his and _Bella_. Of course, how could I have wondered sometime why he preferred her than me? If we ourselves preferred human men than immortal ones..._

It was a little bit awkward.

I supposed that Tanya would forget about all this issue that I were with her like so many times she had let me know, she had insisted to me that I was a fool for refusing to her and that it wasn't reasonable that I did. With just seeing me the first time was enough for her to ever since that moment didn't want to rest until I gave up to her, but, how could I do that?

I was and would never be interested in her, but I knew that the minds of immortals didn't change easily. Tanya's didn't.

I focused on Peter and Charlotte who were closer of driving into the mud road that led to our house.

"_Do you think Carlisle is home, Peter?"_

_Mmm, if Jasper and Alice were looking for us... maybe he's looking for others..._

_Thought the most logical would be not. They must be looking for friends, too..._

"_I don't think so, Charlotte,"_ Peter told her. _"Though I'm not sure either of who would greet us."_

Charlotte sighed. _"Perhaps Rosalie and Emmett, or Edward and Bella?"_

It seemed like Alice had only asked them to come here, and she hadn't given them any other explanation of why they were coming to Forks after two years, when Jasper wasn't even here.

Soon it was heard the speed of the car in which they were driving in diminished its speed and changed its path.

"Oh, crap, Charlie," Bella said, her tone was almost desperate. She thought it was Charlie, what was the problem, anyway? He already knew Tanya and her family from the wedding.

_Is it Grandpa Charlie?_ Renesmee thought gleefully.

"Maybe the Denalis could hang out upstairs until-" Bella started, and before she could go on, I interrupted her.

"No." I was still listening to Peter and Charlotte, but for now, they weren't thinking on anyone else than who might greet them.

_Isn't it Grandpa Charlie?_

_Good!_ Jacob thought, strangely relieved. As if Tanya or someone else were going to hurt him.

With my eyes on the door, I told Bella who it was about. "It's not your father," then my eyes moved to her confused face. "Alice sent Peter and Charlotte, after all. Time to get ready for the next round."

Bella moved before anyone else could say something, towards Carmen and stretched her arms to take Renesmee. Without saying anything, she gave her and returned to my side.

Bella's eyes rested on my face, worry and anxiety filling it.

Renesmee, though she had been calmed after the Denali accepted her, remembered yet – obviously – the reaction they had had when they had saw her at first, and she was afraid of the same thing to happen with our new friends.

Bella seemed to be afraid of the same thing.

"Don't worry. Calm down, Nessie," I whispered to her while I placed quickly a kiss on her cheek.

Renesmee smiled, and she tried to do what I asked her, but it was hard.

I hugged both my angels with my arms, and Jacob moved to our side. His eyes on Renesmee.

Bella started – though there was no need – to breathe faster. She looked at Renesmee for a second, and then she turned to see my face.

"Bella, love," I said, listening to the way Tanya got "red" from, jealousy? "everything will work out well, you'll see," I leaned down to her, conscious of our spectators, and kissed her. Bella responded with a little more intensity that what I pretended.

It made me feel less of a gentleman that Tanya had to see this, but Bella was my wife and Renesmee was my daughter. I had never given Tanya any reasons to believe that I would reciprocate her feeling some day.

Peter and Charlotte drove into the front lawn, and they were half-surprised when they saw another car parked in the front. They knew that there was probably someone else inside of the house, someone else than us. If Alice had told them that we needed them, and Carlisle and Esme were looking for more friends, they thought that some of them might already be here.

_Are you going to show the girl from the beginning?_ Eleazar asked me while we listened to Peter and Charlotte got out of the car.

"Bella, why don't you take Nessie to the dining room?" I told her, in the lowest volume I could.

Bella quickly nodded, understanding.

_Do we have to hide again?_ Renesmee wondered when she heard what I asked Bella to do and her nodding.

Jacob walked out of the room with them. Begging again, that everything went well.

_Good luck, Edward._

Tanya and Kate looked at each other, and then they went to Carmen and Eleazar, to wait next to me, that Peter and Charlotte got to the door.

Their thoughts were cautious.

_I hope they understand, and won't react just like us. Or at least, they listen..._

This time, there were four more thoughts that were begging, too, for our next witnesses – if everything succeeded – understood what was happening.

I heard Renesmee hiding the same way she had under Bella's hair.

We heard them walking towards here with a normal pace. They then climbed the stairs and before they could knock – just like I had done with Tanya – I opened the door.

The first thing they notice was my face. Despite the worry that was still plain in my features for what was happening, no one could deny that there was big change since the last time they had seen me.

I smiled a bit when I read their minds, and the surprise it caused both emotions.

"Hello, Edward," Peter and Charlotte greeted me.

"Hello, Peter. Charlotte."

"Alice and Jasper found us and asked us to come to Forks immediately. They said you needed us here," Peter explained.

I nodded slowly, my eyes looking at Peter and then Charlotte.

"That's true, Peter," I told them as an answer to both. "We are in trouble. My whole family is."

The both became alert, not so much as I had expected them to. But they, too, expected something like this. If not, what other reason would they be here by Alice's petition for?

"We imagined you were," Peter said, his eyes turning to Tanya's whole family.

_Who might they be?_ Peter wondered while he saw Tanya and Kate and Carmen. Eleazar he had seen years ago with the Volturi guard.

"This is Tanya," I said and Tanya nodded. "Kate," Kate raised a hand and greeted. "and Carmen," also Carmen nodded. Then I pointed to Eleazar. "Eleazar is with Carmen now, Peter, not with the Volturi."

Both Peter and Charlotte nodded.

"Okay, Edward. But, why Alice and Jasper sent us here?" Charlotte was the one who asked.

_Something really bad must be happening..._ Charlotte thought, waiting for an answer.

Peter, like it was usual, was thinking the same as her. _It has got to involve the Volturi, that's why they need help..._

"You are both right," I told them. I sighed, and started explaining again. "As you heard, Bella and I got married a few months ago."

_Oh yes. Congratulations, Edward._ Charlotte congratulated me while I smiled. _Would it be the girl they talked us about?_

_It must be that human girl that had him so bad the last time we saw him._

"In a few moments you'll meet her," I commented while I thought on how to proceed.

"Something happened a few days ago," I said, my voice was barely a murmur. "and we need you to help us. Our whole family is in grave danger. But before I can explain what it's about, I need you to be witnesses of something else."

"Something else? What is it, Edward?" Peter asked.

"Just wait for a second. Can you heard something in the other room?"

"Of course."

"What is it? Do you know it?" I asked them.

_Mmm, it seems human... but it sounds different._

Charlotte seemed to be in agreement with Peter. _More than human it seems... a bird?_

I didn't find it strange that that were his conclusion. Kate had also thought that. And Renesmee's heart beat much faster than a human's.

"I'm not sure," Peter whispered, his forehead wrinkled with concentration. "It seems to be a human heart."

"But the other one beats too much fast," Charlotte commented.

"That's true. But they're both hears," I told them, they both raised an eyebrow. "What do you smell now?"

None of them both had never encountered with a werewolf before, so I doubted they were going to recognize any of the two scents that emanated – as much Jacob as Renesmee – while they concentrated on it again.

It was getting me anxious, and it seemed to be more, about listening everyone else's thoughts than for myself. None of them both had ever seen an immortal child before, either. So I imagined that their reactions wouldn't be as strong as Tanya's family had been. They knew the rule, yes. Every vampire that knew the Volturi, knew each and every one of the rules that we were forced to keep.

I couldn't listen to Bella, so I concentrated on Jacob who was looking at Bella and Renesmee.

Their faces, both, showed a bit of anxiety.

I wanted to be with them, and tell them, assure them that everything would go out well.

Even when I myself wasn't sure a hundred percent of that.

I felt terrible when I read the fear that Renesmee was feeling about being rejected. And I knew in that moment, that my daughter would feel it was her fault, until all of this ended. Until she saw that we had told her fulfilled. That it wasn't her fault, and that everything would be alright, that there was nothing to be worried about. Because deeply, she knew it wasn't true.

It was enough with seeing our face to know.

Peter was the one who spoke first, as it was usual. "It seems human, Edward. Just like the sound, but it smells different. I'm not sure of what it is."

"Me neither. I doubt I had ever smelled that before," Charlotte finished.

"You're probably right," I told them.

Their thoughts took on a skeptical tone. "What do you mean? What is there on the other room?"

I took a deep breath, and spoke again.

This was even harder. Even when having already done it once with Tanya and her family.

"I don't think you've ever seen anything like this before. So, please, keep that in mind."

They both nodded.

"Bella?" I called out to her, and heard how she now stood up more easily than before. Jacob by her side, also stood up. "Bring Renesmee, please."

_Renesmee?_

_Who is that?_

Peter and Charlotte were wondering while we listened to Bella and Jacob walking towards us.

I was still surprised at how easily it had turned to explain the whole situation to Peter and Charlotte. Just like with Tanya, they both understood the danger was coming from the Volturi. And after hearing the version of the story through Renesmee – for curiosity – they had accepted to stay here until the Volturi arrived and could give their witness.

They were as committed with helping just like Tanya and our family were.

After a while, Jacob spoke to me, telling me that he would send Leah and his pack back to Sam for the moment. So he was out of the house.

_I would leave, too,_ he had told me before going out. _But Renesmee,_ his eyes looked at with longing.

Renesmee had been – almost – ignoring him since she had become friend with Carmen, that was now like her aunt, too.

She would be the first approximately four-months-old baby, who spoke two languages.

If she kept on the same rhythm.

Bella and I took Renesmee to sleep to our cottage. Peter and Charlotte had stayed in the white house, and Tanya and her family had gone out to know the place and maybe hunt a little bit while they were out.

While we laid Renesmee down, together, in her crib. Bella had already chosen a new book to read to her tonight.

It didn't surprise me her election.

_Little women_ by Louisa May Alcott.

There was something soft and calming, but more than anything, happy in the way Alcott wrote the lines of her book.

"_No one but Beth could get much music out of the old piano,"_ Bella read, and I saw Renesmee frowning while she thought about the times I had sat her on my lap to play the piano. _"but she had a way of softly touching the yellow keys,"_ I smiled at Renesmee while Bella kept reading to her. _"and making a pleasant accompaniment to the simple songs they sang. Meg had a voice like a flute, and she and her mother led the little choir. Amy chirped like a cricket, and Jo wandered through the airs at her won sweet will, always coming out at the wrong place with a croak or a quaver that spoiled the most pensive tune. They had always done this from the time they could lisp... Crinkle, crinkle, 'ittle 'tar, and it had become a household custom, for her mother was a singer._

While Bella kept reading, I watched how Renesmee turned the words that her mother were reading to her, into her own story.

Almost at the end, before she closed her eyes – finally asleep – Renesmee whispered after the end of the story.

Her mouth had formed a little O yawning, and then her little eyes had blinked a few times, before saying: "Daddy is better," a smile completing her comment.

I smiled, and caressed her cheek.

Bella frowned. "Better than who?"

"Better than Beth," was all she said, and then she complemented. "..."

The two of us smiled now while Renesmee fell completely asleep.

Her hand rose towards Bella with a lot of effort, and showed her an image of me with Renesmee in front of the piano. She was explaining to her mom that she meant that.

"Yes, your daddy is better," Bella told her, while she kissed her goodnight.

* * *

**Just so you know, I'll be back at school on Monday, so maybe I will not update sooner, but in the two weeks I always tell you I will.**

**Thanks again, to those who read, and even bigger thanks to those who leave a review!**


	33. Chapter 32, COMPANY

**Hi guys!**

**Yeah! I've finally finished the translation process of this chapter... it took me like forever, almost, I know and I'm really sorry. But, I don't remember if I told you the last time I was getting back to college once again so I have less free time to dedicate to my stories, and I hate that, but what can I do? Studies are important. It's a very stressing and time-consuming career, so please, I'm begging for your understanding. And... given the fact I know not all of you read my rambling, I'll stop now and let you finally go read this chapter!**

**Hope you enjoy it, of course, as always. :)**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

* * *

CHAPTER 32. Company

The days were passing by more quietly than what we would have imagined.

The first coven to arrive to our house, just after one day after Tanya and her family's arrival, and Peter and Charlotte, were the Irish coven. Old friends of Carlisle: Siobhan, Liam and Maggie. Perhaps, with Siobhan, on our side, like Carlisle would say, we would win or rather, we would make the Volturi to retreat and leave us peacefully. Carlisle had always believed that Maggie wasn't the only one who was talented on that coven. And to be that truth, because I couldn't be sure that it was, we had a lot to our advantage. As long as Siobhan wished everything to go to our favor, it would.

After their arrival, everything happened faster than possible, or what I would have thought. If it would have been necessary to keep Renesmee hidden to every moment, we wouldn't have needed to show her to them, anyway.

Maggie, who had joined Siobhan and Liam approximately the same time ago that Rosalie had come to our family, had a very convenient gift.

No one could lie to her, because she could feel it. Whether it was true or it was a lie, she knew it.

So, by the end of my explanation of what was happening, Maggie declared that every word that I had said to her, had been the complete truth. Siobhan as much as much as Liam accepted Maggie's word in this issue. There was no need for them to touch Renesmee so they would see her side of the story. Still, the curiosity, in the same case that with Peter and Charlotte, drove them to allow Renesmee to touch them, and they saw the story that I had just told them with too vivid images again. To see it repeated so many times would have caused to me terror or pain in another situation by reliving it, but behind the nightmare, there had been a happy development. I didn't care that we were now living a darker part, the light would have to come at the end.

Maggie again, declared that everything it was truth. And a new thought crossed through my mind. Was it that, no one could doubt the truth of what Renesmee said once she showed it?

I wasn't sure if that was the case, but it would be very helpful.

I could see that, out of the three of them, Maggie was more than willing to fight if this came to that point. Just like Tanya and her family.

Siobhan, thought the same way as Carlisle, possibly. Wishing that this wouldn't come to a war.

The house was being slowly filled with more friends. First the Denali coven, Peter and Charlotte; and the Irish coven, sent by Carlisle.

From the first day, Jacob had already complained mentally about each one of the visits.

The next day Garrett arrived – sent by Rosalie and Emmett – and the Egyptian coven: Amun, Kebi, Benjamin and Tia – sent by Carlisle, too.

After the last one arrived, Jacob took on an even sourer attitude. Though he kept his eyes on the ground every time he thought furtively about our friends instead of looking to them with a glare, being the natural thing for him, and thought he knew they were here to help us save Renesmee, he couldn't help feeling that way. His eyes rarely looked over the face of the new vampires in the house, they looked from us to Renesmee and to the ground.

None, so far, had complained about the werewolf we kept in the living room of our house. They didn't care at all whether he stayed inside or out of the house.

The way Jacob _respected_ them for being friends, they _tried_ to respect him or rather ignore him, because he was with us, too.

Garrett heard intently to what we had to tell him, and he allowed Renesmee to touch him.

At the end, he was as convinced of the truth as anyone else. And though he wasn't completely decided on whether what he would do when the time came, he seemed to be more inclined to be on our side. He didn't like the way in which the Volturi seemed to rule our world at this moment.

As soon as he knew that Tanya and her family were vegetarians, just like we were, he joined them and the questions were almost endless about the lifestyle they kept.

I was sure they he would try it; while he were here, at least.

He quickly joined Tanya and Kate, Eleazar and Carmen, starting to make his questions.

His curiosity and suddenly feeling towards trying a new challenge didn't seem to have an end.

"How do you do it?" Garrett asked, his eyes were shining while he waited for an answer. His eyebrows were raised. His look was almost trying to penetrate inside of Kate's golden look.

_Incredible, but not impossible. We only have to see Carlisle's family._

Tanya was the one who answered. "We don't need human blood to survive, Garrett," she told him with a small smile.

"But, I don't understand. Your thirst..."

"It's not that hard to control it when one wants to. We have a respect for the human life that others don't," Kate was the one who answered now, her mind divagated on the several conquers both sisters could brag about between the human men.

Garrett growled under his breath. "I guess not," he said while he raised his eyebrows again. "Vegetarians, then, huh?"

The sisters laughed when they heard his mocking tone, and at the same time with an ounce of seriousness.

"It's to keep fit," Tanya joked about it, too. Her hands flew to her golden eyes.

_The red color only fits my hair,_ she thought while still talking.

Everything was still going well while more friends arrived to Forks. There were no trouble in convincing them of the injustice that was probably going to be made against our family if the Volturi punished us for something we had not done, and they refused to listen otherwise.

From the Egyptian coven, only Benjamin and Tia agreed to touch Renesmee after listening to what I had to say.

Amun on the other side... "I refuse to touch the little girl," was everything he said, his hand was firmly squeezing Kebi's to prevent her from going to try it. "Neither Kebi nor I are going to do it. We believe your story, and that's all."

_But this is a fight that we cannot win, and we should leave before the Volturi know we were here. It will be hard to hide it, but..._

"We're leaving right now," Amun announced after a second of consideration.

Kebi nodded, his eyes on the floor. Benjamin and Tia refused immediately.

_Edward, you are right. And this little child deserved someone to protect her. We won't leave. None of us._

"Bejamin, it's not a question. We're leaving now," Amun said again, his hand was outstretched towards him, almost prepared to force him.

My eyes narrowed when I read in his mind the hesitation.

Benjamin had a gift, especially, unique.

"Amun, we are staying. Or do you want our alliance to disappear?" Benjamin threatened him just the way that would make Amun to stay, even if he didn't want to.

Amun growled, but nodded.

"Fine. But either way, we will not touch the little girl," he said, referring to himself and Kebi.

_Witnessing, that's everything I will do... fighting? Ha! Like we had any chance of doing something against them..._ Amun was thinking while he and Kebi got to the side.

"Well, I think you already know what we're doing," Benjamin whispered when he returned his eyes to us.

"Thank you, Benjamin. Tia."

The two of them nodded, and asked silently, that there was nothing to thank for. They both knew that it was the right thing, and that's why they did it.

Eleazar had been intent on the interchange, anxious to see if Amun would succeed on convincing Benjamin to leave. He had felt what his gift was, and he was very interested on knowing more about him. And he as much as I, and Amun feared, we knew what Aro would think when he knew what he could do.

His biggest fear was losing him, and being here, that was the most likely.

The Egyptian coven had gone out hunting on Emmett's Jeep, on the morning. I had prevented to all cost lending my Volvo for the moment, because I knew the moment in which would be necessary would come. With Amun and Benjamin, mainly, were out of our reach, Bella took the chance to make some doubt she had clear, even when we were at our cottage, and there wasn't anyone who could hear us.

"Alright. I'm assuming that the gift – because I'm sure he has one –" said Bella, while she we were looking at Renesmee with Jacob for the first time since Carmen had arrived. They were both sitting in front of the chimney, it was the only way that Jacob could be inside. "I saw Eleazar looking at him, I don't know, perhaps he had some talent to attract everyone else towards him?"

She had misunderstood it all. But there wasn't much possibility that she would have known from the beginning what Benjamin's talent was.

"It's not that," I told her, starting to explain to her. "His gift is so singular that Amun is terrified of losing him. Much like we had planned to keep Renesmee from Aro's knowledge" —I sighed, remembering it had not worked out— "Amun has been keeping Benjamin from Aro's attention. Amun created Benjamin, knowing he would be special."

"What can he do?" Bella asked.

Jacob and Renesmee seemed to be waiting for the answer, too. Having listened to what I was telling to Bella.

They were both curious. Especially, Renesmee.

"Something Eleazar's never seen before. Something I've never heard of. Something that even your shield would do nothing against," I said to her, while I smiled hugely at her. "He can actually influence the elements—earth, wind, water, and fire," I heard Renesmee smiled when thinking of that, her mind playing with the idea. "True physical manipulation, no illusion of the mind. Benjamin's still experimenting with it, and Amun tries to mold him into a weapon. But you see how independent Benjamin is. He won't be used."

"You like him," Bella said, almost a question as a conclusion.

But it was more than just liking what he did. "He has a very clear sense of right and wrong. I like his attitude."

Visits kept arriving, and everyone seemed to be comfortable up to certain point; even when being away from the place they wanted to be at that moment. Garrett had already solidified a relationship with Tanya and her family; Benjamin and Tia had a good relationship with everyone who was there, it didn't take them too long before starting to make friendship with both covens, the Denali and the Irish. Quite the opposite was happening with Amun, and much less with Kebi, who didn't open her mouth at all. If it hadn't been because I could read minds, I would never have known how she felt here. She wasn't as discomfort with this temporary visit to Forks, like Amun was; and if it hadn't been because Amun controlled her mate, Kebi would have gotten on our side without thinking it twice. But she would never disobey Amun.

They both tried to keep themselves away from everyone else.

Bella and I spoke about it one night, hoping it wouldn't take too much longer for Carlisle to come back. I knew that when he came back, Amun would relax a little bit. And it seemed like Bella agreed with that.

It wasn't more than twenty four house before the next guests arrived home.

Rose and Emmett had sent them this time; Mary and Randal. They would probably be the last ones. Nomads at least. There was only one missing coven, the Amazons.

I was little bit surprised when I saw Mary and Randall arriving together, both of them travelled alone; no companion.

Both had run into each other on their way to Forks, and decided to travel together the missing miles. Rose and Emmett hadn't given them any explanation, they had just asked them to come to us the soonest possible, that when arriving, they would get all the explanations they wanted.

There was no problem with them, either. Just as I expected.

From the reunited vampires in the house, the only coven that had seen an immortal child and suffered all the weight of the law because of him, had been Tanya and her family. So everyone else didn't have such a strong reaction as them.

They listened to the story from me, and then from Renesmee.

And like Tanya, they both considered fighting on our side if it was needed, almost immediately.

I didn't insist too much this time. I would have been able to repeat for hours that we had not called them to fight, and very surely, to die on our side; but to witness that Renesmee was not an immortal child, like the Volturi thought she was. As I imagined, they were sure that she was. Irina had given them all the proof they needed in her mind.

A vampire's mind didn't change their minds so easily.

I settled on seeing in their thoughts that it was an already made and sure decision.

I almost laughed when I read Jacob's mind, once Mary and Randall had joined to other friends. Renesmee was with him in this occasion, though my daughter's eyes were following our new addition.

With the look and his forehead frowned looking to the floor, Jacob growled under his breath. "Someone is going to have to provide me with an index if you expect me to remember all these bloodsuckers' names."

_What? My memory isn't photographic..._ he complained, almost embarrassed when he saw that I rolled my eyes to him. Renesmee just shook her head. Partly, she didn't understand what was the problem Jacob so much complained about. She didn't know exactly what a werewolf's job was about, and that's why she didn't understand why he was so upset very often.

And Renesmee was still delighted, still, watching each one of them vampires who were arriving, and even more, if those vampires accepted her.

Everyone eventually accepted, as they got to stay, that the hunting range would be kept the further away possible from Forks and La Push, possibly out of the state. This didn't bother them, the only ones who barely stand the idea of allowing it, were the wolves. To Bella and me it didn't bother us so much as it did to them to know that human were dying somewhere out there under our knowledge.

It always happened, but it was different.

It was as if we were giving the permission. Only Tanya's family and ours stayed in the house and on the surroundings when we hunted.

There wasn't need to get away, and with the things advancing, we took Renesmee with us. Jacob was always there, when Bella and I went out. We took the opportunity that there weren't vampires on our surroundings that kept Renesmee busy. And of course, the challenge always made them more exciting in our outings.

The meadow where Bella had seen Irina, was almost forbidden. The three of us felt uncomfortable in a way. So we avoided it.

Every night, when we laid Renesmee down on her crib, now we did it both of us, we didn't want to lose not even a second from her life, we read to her a different story. We kept the happy endings, and though they weren't fairytales, Renesmee seemed to turn them into such in her mind.

Her dreams still kept that colorful touch that was characteristic of them, the dark colors seemed to be fighting with the shiny ones for superiority, but one way or another one, the light won.

That have me hope. If everything were so easy like the in the make-believe world...

Before I could get anxious the time that was taking Carlisle and Esme to come back, after a week of not getting any new other friend, they arrived. Maybe I was the only one who wasn't surprised of seeing that they weren't coming alone, and it wasn't about Rose and Emmett.

Alistair, an old acquaintance – more than a friend – of Carlisle was coming with them.

There were hugs among the five of us. Bella and I were relieved of seeing them back with us, finally. Renesmee was excited of having her grandparents back with her, too. And Carlisle and Esme, they were feeling a mix of both emotions. They had missed their granddaughter, and us, too.

They said hi to Tanya and her family first, and then they started thanking the ones who had been sent by them, for having stayed and understood what was happening. And the ones who had been sent by Rose and Emmett for the same thing, too.

Amun was the only one among everyone, who wasn't _happy_ of seeing his old friend. Not with what he was getting him into, he thought.

Almost, as soon as they arrived, Alistair got locked in the attic. Staying the most possible away from any possible companionship. It wasn't his favorite hobby, to live together with other vampires. Since Carlisle had found him, he had been in such a moody way, he didn't like having visits or seeing his acquaintances, if it hadn't been – at the least – more than a hundred years.

Locked up in the attic, yes; but either way, he was here.

There was no need, either, for him to touch Renesmee. He had believed our story completely since Carlisle had told him about it when he found him.

While he was like a bat in the attic, like once Alice had growled of feeling that way, we listened to Alistair the entire time whispering between growls and hissings, "Of course, now they'll know I was here. No way to keep it from Aro at this point. Centuries on the run, that's what this will mean. Everyone's Carlisle talked to in the last decade will be on their list. I can't believe I got myself sucked into this mess. What a fine way to treat your friends."

Well, at least he _could_ run. We were the only target of the Volturi.

Complaints didn't relent with the passing of the days, like we knew they'd continue.

After several times of listening to him, Carlisle and Esme, and Bella were wondering what was his problem, because not even Carlisle could know for sure.

"I didn't know he didn't like doing a favor to a friend," Carlisle murmured one day, while we were seeing Renesmee running around with Jacob on the background. Only Tanya and her family, and Garrett – no surprise there – were in the house.

"It's not that," I assured him, patting him on the shoulder.

The three of them turned to see me, and Esme and Carlisle asked for me to explain them what I meant. The same request on Bella's eyes, a raised eyebrow.

I half smiled, and then I started to explain to them. "What happens is that he is afraid of being here."

_How?_ Carlisle asked me, his forehead frowning.

"More than afraid of being here, he's afraid of know knowing the outcome," which was something pretty normal, if I was being honest. Everyone was afraid of know knowing it, but they handled it better than Alistair. "He suspects deeply of all authority, therefore, he naturally suspects of the Volturi. And what it is happening now seems to confirm his fears."

"Oh," Bella whispered.

Carlisle and Esme were also a little bit surprised, and shared his opinion about the Volturi up to one point. The suspicions had materialized until now that they were back, and we had informed them about everything Eleazar had told us.

Carlisle and Esme excused themselves after a while to the inside of the house, leaving Bella and I looking at Renesmee and Jacob playing.

It was sometimes unbelievable how Jacob seemed more like a child than Renesmee.

Bella wrapped her arms around me, and she smiled. I smiled back at her, and then our attention went to our daughter, again.

Listening to Renesmee's smile, was like music to our ears. It was the most beautiful composition it could exist on the planet... I couldn't, more than feel proud over that little creature being mine and Bella's.

And like I hoped, and I would assure of, keep being.

Rosalie and Emmett came back just a few days after Carlisle and Esme. The family was complete again – almost – and that made us feel a little bit better, more relaxed up to certain level.

Emmett didn't stop talking for a long while about the different preys he had found while they were gone. That seemed to compensate for the trip to Brazil that had been cancelled with the bad news.

Rosalie rolled her eyes several times before shutting him up.

She was happy, too, of being back home. She kept herself by Renesmee's side for several hours, her eyes were memorizing each little and big change that she had had during this days she had been absent.

And Renesmee was now, happier and more relaxed, seeing her family together again.

While the days keep passing, the sensation that Alice and Jasper would come back at any moment, like her aunt Rosalie and her uncle Emmett, they banished with disappointment and a bit of sadness, when she realized that that wasn't going to happen.

Luckily that day, new visits arrived. Unexpected ones.

No one, neither Carlisle nor Rosalie had been able to contact the Amazons, and now they were here. We were all surprised of seeing Zafrina and Senna arrived to the house; even more, when we noticed that Kachiri wasn't with them. They were never apart.

Before Carlisle or anyone could ask where Kachiri was, I saw it in Zafrina's mind: Alice.

First Peter and Charlotte, and now the Amazons...

"Carlisle," Zafrina said hi to him as soon as she saw him. Both amazons were excited of seeing him, though Senna, as it was the usual, didn't say anything. She always let Zafrina to be the spokesperson from them both.

From my peripheral sight, I saw the way Bella was really surprised of seeing them. It was the same look she had had when the Irish coven had arrived, too. The vampires who were in the house, were completely different to any other Bella had ever seen before, especially Zafrina and Senna. Their look reflected the place they were coming from.

Renesmee showed interest from the beginning, her eyes were inspecting both women with curiosity from the corner of the room, where she was talking with Jacob – who of course – growled under his breath again to the new additions.

"Zafrina and Senna!" Carlisle exclaimed, surprised of seeing them here. "But where's Kachiri? I've never seen you three apart."

_Nor will you see us..._ Senna thought.

Zafrina also thought something similar. But through her mind passed the conversation she had with Alice and Jasper when they found them.

I couldn't concentrate completely on that memory, it quickly got banished from her mind.

But I was excited, more than excited of more friends being here to help us with the testimonies we needed to prove that Renesmee was not an immortal child, I was excited of having Zafrina with us. She would be of great help if the Volturi didn't stop... it wasn't as if we were going to ask them to fight on our side, either, if she made her gift worked, there would be no need for a fight.

"Alice told us we needed to separate," Zafrina explained Kachiri's absence. Images of that conversation were going through her mind for moments. "It's uncomfortable to be away from each other, but Alice assured us that you needed us here, while she very much needed Kachiri somewhere else. That's all she would tell us, except that there was a great hurry…?"

Carlisle sighed, deciding what it could be he, now, who explained the situation.

_You've done it several times, son. Let me explain this to Zafrina and Senna._ Carlisle asked me.

I nodded, and the explanation began.

Both, Zafrina and Senna listened very intently, their faces didn't show any sign of stress or tension, or even fear when they heard what Carlisle was explaining to them. The way in which my father did it, was completely different to mine, and perhaps it would have been easier that way. Carlisle had a way of making feeling everyone around him at ease, in any way.

The two of them allowed Renesmee to touch them, and like everyone who already had experienced the first shock when seeing the images on their minds, reacted, too.

At the end, we had two more friends as witnesses when they Volturi arrived.

Nor Carlisle nor I had had doubt it would be that way. The three Amazons were very fond of Carlisle and respected him, and the whole family. That's why they hadn't doubted on coming just the two of them, and leaving Kachiri wherever it was that Alice needed her.

Remembering Alice made me wonder, what the hell she was doing in Brazil!

Maybe guessing that Alice really had gone just because she had seen Aro would force her somehow to join them, or because something serious would happen to Jasper, that the only serious thing that could happen o him, was to be murdered by the guard, that meant that Alice kept loving our family, and that it hadn't been betrayal or something worse why she had abandoned us.

I sighed, whatever it was her reason, she had left, and I doubted she were going to be back.

_Really, she is a beautiful girl..._ Senna was thinking, surprising me. Her thoughts hadn't gone to her since Carlisle had explained to them that she was not an immortal child.

But just like with everyone else, she had charmed them. What it was that our daughter had to make her so irresistible?

Of course, the _charm_ didn't seem to work on everyone. It only had to be remembered Amun and Alistair. But that didn't make me feel less proud of being father of Renesmee, that Bella were her mother, a couple of angels more beautiful couldn't exist.

"It's good to have you here, Zafrina," I told her, raising an eyebrow, and she immediately knew why I was saying it.

Zafrina half-smiled, and shook her head. "Yes, it is. The Volturi will have to stop when they see how many witnesses you've brought, or because they see nothing, right?"

Bella and Renesmee were sitting by my side on the couch, Zafrina was in front of us while we considered the too useful talent that we had with her here. Eleazar was surprised too of seeing what Zafrina could do. He was finding talents he had never seen before, and he knew, that Aro, when he came, would find them very fascinating.

_Do you want to try?_ Zafrina asked while she was thinking on what to show.

Before I could even answer, everything around me disappeared, being replaced by green. Just the place where Zafrina and Senna were coming from. The rain forest of the Amazon appeared in front of my eyes. Everything I could see was trees and exotic plants to my surrounding, it seemed like I were sitting on the green ground from the illusion Zafrina had created in my mind. It would have been a bit odd, if it hadn't been because I still could read everyone's minds around me, and feel Bella in my arms.

"Do you like it?" Zafrina asked.

I nodded, through her I could see, that my eyes weren't focused on something specific.

"What is it?" Bella asked, anxious and confused at the same time.

_She can't see it?_ Zafrina wondered, while she showed the same images to my Bella.

None of the Amazons had idea that Bella had a shield. And they were surprised when I explained to them why Bella couldn't see anything that she was showing to me. Surprised, because they had never encountered someone like her.

"It's a very straightforward illusion," I explained to Bella how it worked Zafrina's talent. My eyes were still seeing the image that she wanted my mind to see. "She can make most people see whatever she wants them to see—see that, and nothing else. For example, right now I would appear to be alone in the middle of a rain forest. It's so clear I might possibly believe it, except for the fact that I can still feel you in my arms."

While I was still trapped on the illusion Zafrina had me, I heard the interest of Renesmee growing, almost up to some fascination for what she had heard I said.

_A rain forest?_ Renesmee was wondering, delighted.

_What do you think?_ Zafrina asked me while she erased the image from my mind and allowed me to see again.

"Impressive," I answered at the same time that I saw her once again in front of me. My lips curving into a wide smile.

_I want to see what daddy saw._ Renesmee thought.

In that same instant, she raised her little hand towards Zafrina without hesitating.

Zafrina turned, to see what Renesmee wanted.

"Can I see?" my daughter asked her, cheered up.

"What would you like to see?"

Before Renesmee could answer, I already knew what she would tell her. I had already heard it in her mind seconds ago.

"What you showed daddy," she answered to Zafrina.

Looking at Renesmee, I saw Bella made certain face, and an emotion – not very difficult to recognize – crossing her eyes. She seemed to not be happy with Renesmee's request for some reason that I didn't understand at all, for now.

Zafrina nodded, and then the same image was filling Renesmee's mind.

I noticed that Bella was anxious during the whole time Renesmee kept her eyes unblinking, and looking at nothing in front of her.

Renesmee was even more fascinated than before.

A smile spread across her face, the kind of smile that always made us happier, her eyes blinked again, and again, it didn't surprise me what she asked.

"More," she said to Zafrina, the smile on her face.

Renesmee was enjoying of several picturesque images, like she had never had the opportunity of seeing here in Forks, and like we had never had the opportunity of showing to her. The first image, in the rain forest, would have been known for her in these same dates, if it hadn't been because of Alice's vision about the Volturi. We would have been in Brazil doing research about Renesmee's condition, that was still a mystery.

The colors were so nice, that for Renesmee seemed like a soft and quiet melody that took her to a very different world. One of joy and colors, of excitement and fascination. His mind seemed to forget about everything else.

Of everything my little angel should not think about, and worry about.

I was glad that her mind could wander to more pleasant places where she didn't have any worries or concerns. I was glad, now, much more, that Zafrina were here.

That night, after almost ripping Renesmee away from Zafrina and her images, we left to our cottage. Jacob left with us, he was walking right behind us, while Bella was holding Renesmee in her arms, her eyes were looking around, but her mind didn't stop thinking about her. During the walk, Bella dedicated to see in her mind everything Zafrina had showed to Renesmee before we left the house.

After laying her down and reading her a book, Bella reminded me of an unwanted subject to me. I would have wanted her to forget it, but I should have known better.

"I think we should start practicing tomorrow, Edward," she told me, while her lips moved down towards my throat, it was the most she could reach from me, even when she was on her tiptoes, and her hands intertwined with my hair.

I growled. I didn't want to talk about that.

But it seemed like my desire, at least on that, would come true. Bella pulled down my head towards hers to reach my lips, making impossible that I refused to her request.

We both forgot about the subject for the night.

Even when I knew that in the morning it would be impossible to avoid.

As soon as the sun rose, we both part from each other and walked to the wardrobe to change clothes and go back to the main house.

While we were getting dressed, Bella made me know what she thought of Zafrina and her images.

I didn't find it strange what followed next. "I don't like it..."

"What thing?" I asked her, bewildered.

"I'm sure Zafrina can show images not very... pretty to Renesmee, Edward. I'm worried."

I frowned. "I'm always at her reach. I don't think she wants to show her something that would scare her, Bella, love. Don't worry," I told her, caressing her cheek.

"I know, but..."

Bella didn't finish, we listened to Renesmee stretching and then opening her eyes.

Surprising us, because she woke up before we went for her to her bedroom, the two of us walked in immediately, and smiled at her lightly when we saw her, bewildered. Renesmee stretched out her arms towards Bella so she would take her in hers, and then said. "Are we leaving yet?"

We both nodded, and Bella dressed her up to leave as soon as possible.

Renesmee walked, this time, hand in hand with ours. As soon as we opened the door to get out, Jacob was already there waiting to escort us back.

_Morning, guys..._ he thought, then sighed with relief when he saw Renesmee with us.

The three of us said hi to him, and when we were crossing the river, Renesmee jumped up to his back. Her hands grappled – fearless – his fur. The effort Renesmee exerted on squeezing Jacob's fur, was with more force than necessary, but Renesmee wasn't aware of such thing, and Jacob – of course – didn't have think to complain about it. While she were feeling fine, happy, he didn't mind.

I smiled slightly.

Very deeply, it still annoyed me knowing that Renesmee was destined to be with Jacob. But I was working with that part, trying to control it. It wasn't easy.

The Irish coven, Tanya and Kate and Garrett were outside. Carlisle had only lent his Merced on this time. Rosalie, seeing that any of the other family's cars were needed, given the fact that Tanya and Kate didn't hunt humans, and Garrett was trying their lifestyle, almost demanded to Carlisle to refrain from lending her M3.

During the rest of the day, everyone else were needing the cars. The first one on going out was Alice's Porsche, then Bella's Ferrari – who didn't care at all – Emmett's Jeep, and luckily, both my Volvo and Aston Martin, didn't have the need to be lent that day. But I knew the day would come.

Benjamin and Tia took the Porsche, Amun and Kebi took the Ferrari, and the Jeep was requested by Peter and Charlotte.

With more than the half of our friends out of the house, there wasn't much that kept Bella distracted, or that it kept _me_ busy, I didn't know exactly in what, maybe planning something and strategizing, whatever it was but what she had in mind my Bella.

Fighting... against her, was the only thing I didn't want.

Why was she doing this to me? Did she really have no idea of what it didn't to me just imagining it? Now putting it into action. It was the worst thing.

Carmen and Eleazar, Rosalie and Emmett were on the meadow with us when we went out to _practice_.

Renesmee had stayed inside of the house, by my request, in Jacob's companion this time.

Bella stopped in front of me, a few meters in the middle of us. Her eyes were focused on my face, concentrated, she watched every movement I made before... attacking her.

The automatic instinct of looking all the weak points in my _enemy_, made it difficult to me.

Seeing Bella, in front of me, ready to defend herself from my attack, watching over from _me_, like she should once have done, like once I wished she would, but not this way. It seemed that that morning in Biology class, that now seemed to be so far away in the past, came back to the present but in a different way.

My mind gave me, automatically, all the ways in which I could kill... kill her. I couldn't even think of her name.

Bella moved towards me, and in less than two second, I was at her side, my arms restricting any movement she wanted to make to get rid of me.

And it was too much for me...

I released her immediately, and jumped back, setting her free.

The first thing I heard was Emmett, complaining about not having Jasper here to make a bet about us.

_I knew Edward would do that..._ he was thinking while he saw me retreating from Bella before she could get rid of me herself. Which she possibly could have done, she was barely a few months-old as an immortal, and her strength was still bigger than mine.

I stopped a few meters from Bella, a shorter distance than a moment ago. My eyes weren't looking beyond Bella, and at the same time they weren't seeing her. I was listening with more clarity the thought around me, while I was still in the middle of the meadow. My family, especially, Carlisle and Esme were starting to get worried about my reaction.

Rosalie and Emmett understood it, too.

That's why I didn't let Emmett to think that I was sort of exaggerated. If he could, he would fight, with Rosalie, of course, jokingly, just to hang out a while, if it weren't because Rosalie didn't allow her hair to get messy or ruined.

I could see my face in their minds, and it was blank, expressionless.

This was not a game, not even that way I would want to fight against Bella. I couldn't. and Bella didn't seem to understand why.

_I_ didn't understand how was that possible.

"I'm sorry, Bella," I whispered when her face showed bewilderment.

"No, I'm fine. Let's go again," Bella said, her tone confirmed me that she didn't understand why I was apologizing.

She didn't have any idea of why my behavior, and it was a bit frustrating.

"I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't?" Bella asked. Did she really not understand? It hurt a little bit that she didn't understand my perspective on this issue. "We just started."

_Oh, dear,_ Esme whispered, worried. _I know he will not hurt her, either way._

Carlisle on the other side, _he shouldn't have to go through this._

_Please, Edward! She's not human now, you can't hurt her._

It disappointed me, in certain way, that Bella didn't notice the effort that this cost me. Because she should know. When she had presented me with the idea, her voice had showed hesitation, waiting for my reaction to her words. She knew I wasn't going to like her idea at all, then, why didn't she understand the reason I had to refuse to do this? How difficult it was to me.

I had spent so much time trying to not kill her, to not think of that, and now she was asking me that I saw her like I had always refused to see her. To see her weak points, and the ways in which would be easier to catch and kill her...

I knew I wouldn't, but it was too real.

"Look, I know I'm no good at this, but I can't get better if you don't help me," Bella said.

Again, disappointment, frustration, even some anger with Bella for not understanding yet that this wasn't about what she was talking about.

I had never gotten angry at her, but it was ridiculous that she didn't understand me.

So I didn't answer her. She had to see that this wasn't anything of what she said that stopped me.

The next thing I saw, was Bella launching towards me. I didn't move, even when my instincts of defense screamed at me to move or defend myself. We both fell down to the ground, after Bella collided against me, and she pressed her lips lightly on my jugular.

"I win," Bella said, her voice had a mix of joke and seriousness.

I narrowed my eyes, but I knew myself silent.

_Edward, darling? Are you okay, right?_ Esme asked me, really and unnecessarily worried.

_Pathetic that you let her beat you, brother._ Emmett complained.

I didn't even want to think on the same thing again. It only exasperated me more.

"Edward? What's wrong? Why won't you teach me?" Bella asked. How was it possible that her tone were so genuinely perplexed?

_Son?_ Carlisle also asked. _What's wrong?_

_Edward, don't be so dramatic..._

How to explain it to her, and make her understand at the same time?

My mind wandered for a complete minute, trying to find the way to tell her.

I listened to Renesmee and Jacob inside of the house, and just listening to my daughter's voice, made it worse to be here, arguing with Bella because I didn't want to _attack her_. It felt terribly wrong. My instincts had always been programmed – if that was the right word – towards the total protection of Bella. It was almost impossible to me to force myself to leap towards her and knock her down or immobilize her. To look at her as a target I had to knock down...

How did she ask me that?

"I just can't... bear it," I finally told her. "Emmett and Rosalie know as much as I do. Tanya and Eleazar probably know more. Ask someone else."

Emmett was already getting himself ready to _help_ Bella, thinking more on the revenge from all the arm-wrestlings they'd had before.

""That's not fair! You're good at this," Bella complained, the volume of her voice a little bit louder than usual. "You helped Jasper before—you fought with him and all the others, too. Why not me? What did I do wrong?"

I sighed, I was really exasperated now. I couldn't believe that Bella didn't understand me when everyone else knew how much it was costing me this.

I decided that she needed a better explanation. "Looking at you that way, analyzing you as a target. Seeing all the ways I can kill you..." I shuddered with just thinking about it. Why was it so hard for her to understand me? "It just makes it too real for me. We don't have so much time that it will really make a difference who your teacher is. Anyone can teach you the fundamentals."

Bella, instead of complaining again, she frowned, and her lips formed an attractive pout.

Without being able to help it, I gently touched her lower lip, and tried to smile at her. "Besides, it's unnecessary. The Volturi will stop. They will be made to understand."

"But if they don't! I need to learn this," Bella insisted.

It was almost as hard to refuse as to accept. But I had to do it for my mental health's sake, and for her. I couldn't...

"Find another teacher."

That same night, Bella insisted again on the same issue. My answer, this time, kept unmoving. She was not going to convince me. It was too difficult to say to her no, but it was more difficult to say yes and go back to the same thing from this morning.

Bella didn't even have to ask Emmett to be her teacher for the moment, I could see in her look, every time she turned to see me, that she still was hoping to be able to convince me and it was me who taught her and not Emmett. But that, was not going to happen. Bella learnt fast, of course. Her memory didn't fail her, or her ear. Every word and move my brother taught her, got etched on her memory perfectly well. Jacob, Renesmee and I always came to see Bella's classes.

Often, I felt the instinct of standing in middle of Bella and Emmett, and to defend her. I struggled every day with that side of me that screamed at me to not allow anyone to get any close to Bella in an offensive position. Even when I knew that Em was only trying to teach her, to train her so she'd be able to defend herself.

Something I had refused...

But it if was difficult for me to see someone else _attacking her_, much more it was to feel that I myself could end up hurting her.

I didn't have to read Emmett's mind to know that his teaching, it was more like a revenge to him. He took the opportunity at in this, at least, Bella had less experience, and that it wasn't as easy for her to win at the end like in arm-wrestlings. She just shook his head every time a wide smile spread across his, when he _beat_ Bella.

Rosalie also helped, less times of course. It was strange that she were willing, or available as she said. Her hair was her priority. But she knew that Bella needed training, and that if she could help her, she would.

She thanked every time someone else took her place.

When Tanya and Eleazar came back that same afternoon, Bella asked them to be her teachers, too. They both accepted without hesitating.

Bella thanked everyone, saying that she was learning a few tricks.

When they weren't hunting, some of our guests also were present. Sometimes Zafrina were with Renesmee, keeping her distracted from the training field of her mother, and that calmed me a little bit.

Garrett offered himself to help Bella sometimes, and she confessed me that she thought of him as a surprisingly good teacher. Zafrina was too, she had told me, but she only accepted her help once, avoiding it. Somehow, she was scared of her.

Kate was another of her teachers, but in a different field.

It didn't take them too long on dedicating some time to Bella's shield, and to succeed on her projecting it. Carlisle had been very amazed when Eleazar and I had explained to him which was really her talent. And like I did, he got surprised of not having thought of that before. Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, like everyone else, expected her to be able to project her shield. Thought anyone made their opinions known, except for Emmett, of course.

In that training, I didn't refuse to help, and I was the only one who volunteered. Being included Kate and her electrical currents, no one wanted to experiment them.

More than to protect everyone else, I wanted that Bella succeeded on her shield's projection so that way she wouldn't have to fight, and she kept herself away from any member of the guard that could seriously hurt her.

The days passed, and the only one who worked hardly for hours, was Bella.

Her time seemed to be divided in two: her family and the training.

If before the day light wasn't enough to be with Renesmee, now much less. When she wasn't with her, she was training with Em or rose, Tanya or Eleazar, and with her shield and Kate.

We spent hours of the night, sometimes, also training with her.

The only member of the family who had been excluded with the arrival of our friends, was Charlie. Bella didn't allow him to come and visit us, and her excuse was the situation of 'need to know only' that he himself had demanded from the beginning.

Renesmee missed him, and it was easy to see that he did, too. They had only seen each other twice on the same week. Very little in comparison with the daily visits he had done during these three months.

That afternoon, Bella had complained for the first time that it had to be who got her current.

Her arms tightened even more around me every time I shuddered, and her forehead wrinkled.

"Ugh!" Bella growled, her arms didn't release me.

"What is it, love?"

"Kate," Bella whispered, her tone frustrated. "it's not that I have anything against you, but, couldn't be Zafrina the one who helps us?"

Kate shook her head. "Could," she answered to her. "But you need better motivation."

_I don't think that not being able to see around you, Edward, works for her._ she explained to me in her mind. And I could see what she meant, but not Bella.

"What do you mean?"

"Your hatred over seeing Edward suffering, Bella, that's your best motivation," Kate explained to her.

Zafrina, who was walking around the meadow holding Renesmee' hand while she showed to her more of her images, spoke to me. Senna was with her, and Jacob followed them from behind, always taking care of Renesmee.

_I cannot only show you _pretty_ images._

But she didn't say it out loud, being in agreement with Kate being the most effective on this, at least.

As the days passed, Bella complained less. And her projection was getting better, she was beginning to project sporadically. And while she kept that way, I had more opportunity of keeping her away from her wrestling practices with my siblings, or whoever it was her teacher.

Kate touched my shoulder again, her current trying to go through Bella's shield...

"Hey," I whispered, barely hiding the pain while I was speaking. She couldn't always project, but I was hoping she would soon. Renesmee crossed my look at that moment, and I wished it with more feeling than before. "That barely stung. Good job, Bella."

Bella didn't say anything, her face was focused.

_I'm just hoping you're not saying that just to calm Bella down, Edward. If it's not working, say it..._

"Again, Kate," Bella said, through her teeth.

_Here it comes,_ Kate murmured while her hand closed on me again.

I held my breath, and when Kate's hand touched my shoulder, I didn't feel anything.

I blew my breath out, with relief this time. "Nothing that time."

"That wasn't low, either," Kate said, raising an eyebrow.

"Good," Bella snorted.

_Her shield had much more potential,_ Eleazar thought while he watched us. Carmen and Tanya were with him.

"She's doing good," Tanya whispered to both.

Carmen and Eleazar nodded.

Kate, listening to them, decided it was time for a new discharge.

"Get ready," Kate told Bella, her hand stretching out towards me.

_Low?_ She whispered, her hand on my shoulder. I shuddered before I could help it.

It wasn't as bad as Jane made you feel, and I felt worse for having let a hiss escape through my teeth. I had been able to keep silent under Jane's look, why couldn't I do the same thing with Kate?

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Bella said, her teeth biting down her lip.

Garrett came to us when he heard me and Bella.

"You're doing an amazing job, Bella," I assured her, pulling her to me a little bit more. I didn't want her to feel bad. "You've really only been working at this for a few days and you're already projecting sporadically. Kate, tell her how well she's doing."

_I'm not sure of what to say, Edward..._ Kate told me, her lips twisting while she considered what to tell Bella.

"I don't know," she whispered.

_Maybe she's missing something, or someone..._

"She's obviously got tremendous ability, and we're only beginning to touch it. She can do better, I'm sure. She's just lacking incentive."

_We've got to be able to do something._

I turned to see Bella, and her eyes were widely open, staring at Kate. It seemed like she couldn't believe what she had just heard, and I completely understood her. It was as if I was told that I wasn't making an effort on something, seeing Bella suffering...

Benjamin and Tia had come closer while Kate was speaking. Siobhan and Maggie were barely getting to the meadow, but they had listened to everything from the inside of the house.

"Kate is right," Eleazar murmured.

"But Eleazar..." Carmen answered him, her voice had a reprehensive tone.

"Bella's got the potential, a lot," Benjamin was the one who spoke. "But she's got to practice a lot, her talent will be very useful if she makes it."

"The time is running out, but Edward is right," Maggie said. "She's doing it wonderfully."

"Yes, it's barely been a few days," Siobhan whispered. "and she's already able to project."

_You're only right on a side, Edward. She can do better, and sooner._ Kate announced, a new idea crossing her mind.

"Kate..." I told her, my tone showing the warning that I was yelling at her in my mind.

_It'll work out, you'll see, Edward._ Kate insisted when she heard me.

_What are you thinking, sister?_ Tanya wondered while we saw that Kate moved to the side, her look on Renesmee who was now near to the river. Interchanging images with Zafrina while they walked around the meadow.

"Nessie," Kate whispered, and Renesmee turned around immediately towards her name. Her eyes resting for a second on Kate and then to us. "Would you like to come help your mother?"

I didn't have to strain to imagine Bella's reaction to such words.

Her denial to such option, came out like a growl. "No."

_Mommy?_ Renesmee murmured when she heard her.

I wrapped my arms around Bella, trying to prevent her from doing something she were going to regret later. No effort at all, Bella pushed me away from her.

I turned to see Kate, my face was full of reproach, my forehead wrinkled.

_What?_ She asked me.

I shook my head, and the two of us turned towards Renesmee and Bella.

Jacob had stayed behind the trees, watching first to what was happening. He hadn't been paying much attention to our conversation before, and he had no idea of why Kate wanted Renesmee to help Bella.

"Absolutely not, Kate," Bella said to her again, hissing.

At that same moment, Renesmee raised her arms towards Bella so she would take her in her arms, in her mind was already prepared an image of her with Bella, a team, working together to help her mom. I couldn't smile when I saw that, I was still tense with what Kate was planning to do to push Bella to the edge, and to make her shield to project completely, once and for all.

Bella opened her arms, and Renesmee laid her face on her chest.

"But Momma, I want to help," Renesmee insisted to Bella, a new image in her mind that she was showing to her now. She put her hand on her neck. Everything she wanted was to help her. It was that what Kate had asked her for, after all. And Bella should know that Kate would never hurt Renesmee...

Still, I understood Bella's reaction.

Even, me, knowing it, I felt the impulse of ripping Kate away from her place and get her away from Bella and Renesmee.

"No," Bella snarled, and I wasn't sure if as an answer to Renesmee, or Kate.

As soon as she snarled, Bella started to back away, walking away from Kate. Renesmee turned to see me, and her expression was one of confusion. She didn't understand why Bella was so upset.

_This has got to work out, Edward. If not, I don't know what will..._ Kate was thinking while she advanced a step with delicacy towards Bella and Renesmee. Her hand raised towards them, ready to _attack_ as soon as she had them at her reach, though that wasn't definitely her plan.

"Stay away from us, Kate," Bella growled again.

_Daddy, is everything alright?_ Renesmee asked me, now considering that Bella was truly protecting her from Kate and something that wanted to hurt her.

I just nodded, and Renesmee believed me.

My forehead wrinkled when Kate insisted on her plan. "No," she told her, and Bella put Renesmee on her back. Her hands were now free, and she could easily attack Kate.

Kate smiled while she kept slowly walking forward towards Bella.

This was simply worse than my nightmares, and at the same time better.

I knew that Kate wouldn't do anything against any of them both, but seeing her that way, walking towards Bella and Renesmee, ready, that smile on her lips, it only reminded me of terrible times. James, Victoria, and even Laurent that I hadn't even seen him with my own eyes...

_Kate..._ I heard Tanya, anxious. _Be careful, sister._

Kate's whole family was as anxious as Tanya was when they saw what she was trying to do and the way she was trying to do it at that moment. Eleazar was the only one who understood the way in which she was doing it, and why. He understood that she had to _force_ Bella up to the limit so she could project her shield, but he didn't think it was necessary so soon either. Kate didn't agree with them, of course. And that had her facing a few months-old vampire. Bella could lose her concentration and attack her before Kate could react.

An indescribable rage was filling Bella's look. I had never seen so much... hatred, in her eyes.

With Renesmee on her back, I understood why she was that way.

Just her, just Bella could understand the passion of a mother towards her daughter. Everything that brought, and caused. It didn't compare at all with the hatred of seeing _me_ suffering. Even I, understood that.

Bella had loved with too much passion Renesmee, even in her mortal life, and when she had woken to this life, it was clear that her maternal passion would be intensified like she had no idea. That same thing Kate must have thought when she included Renesmee in this.

A glow of reason, or understanding crossed Bella's look. Kate noticed it, too.

_I think she's made it,_ Kate thought, while she took a last step towards Bella and Renesmee.

Bella answered with a growl through her teeth. I had never before heard such a fierce sound coming out of Bella, I would have never imagined listening to her that way...

"Be careful, Kate," I warned her, I could see that the reason wasn't filling Bella completely yet.

A bad step she took, and Bella could attack her.

Not that she could hurt her, there were enough vampires around her to protect her in case she needed it, but at this moment, it would be Kate who would need it. I was sure of that.

_Well, I think it's enough already,_ Kate told me, responding to my warning. She took another step, but behind, and then she turned to see me.

I risked a last glance to Bella, and I saw her poised to attack.

"Can you hear anything from Nessie?" Kate asked me.

With the anxiety of the moment, I had not even put attention to that detail. While she advanced quickly to Bella, I tried to find Renesmee's voice among the people there, but... nothing?

I was between Kate and Bella in less than a second, watching that Bella wouldn't lose her control.

I looked at Kate, and at the same time I was trying to listen to Renesmee.

But again, nothing.

_So?_ Kate asked.

"No, nothing at all," I told her, frowning. "Now give Bella some space to calm down, Kate. You shouldn't goad her like that. I know she doesn't seem her age, but she's only a few months old."

"We don't have time to do this gently, Edward," Kate insisted. "We're going to have to push her. We only have a few weeks, and she's got the potential to—"

"Back off for a minute, Kate."

It had already been enough.

I was sure that Bella had had enough for today, too.

I didn't want neither of them two to turn out hurt, neither Kate who frowned her forehead to me when she heard my tone.

_Mmm, all right,_ she complained.

She went to Eleazar who I heard now. _Impressive, now I cannot get a read on Renesmee, just like Bella..._

And Jacob, from the shadows of the trees, he was growling inwardly for what he had just witnessed. He didn't like at all, as much as Bella, that Kate used Renesmee so Bella could project her shield.

Even Alistair, who was watching from the beginning this practice, was impressed.

I knew that Carlisle would have been, too. But he and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett were out, hunting.

"Kate," Bella growled. I half-turned to see her, and in her eyes there was just determination. What was she thinking now?

Then she put one of her hands on my shoulder, and my forehead wrinkled even more. What was she planning to do?

Kate mused over Bella's expression, and then her hand on my shoulder. _Can she do it? Can she include you in her shield?_

"Again," Bella said, her voice seemed tired, it came out like barely a gasp. "Edward, only."

Kate rolled her eyes when she heard her, and came closer to us to once again put her hand on my shoulder.

_Well, let's see what happens, Edward. Get ready._

As soon as she was over, her hand touched my shoulder, but nothing happened.

I smiled, with relief and excitement. "Nothing," I told Kate.

"And now?" Kate asked me, while she increased the potential of her current.

But again, there was no pain.

"Still nothing," I answered to her.

"And now?" Kate asked again, her tone revealed her frustration, a reflex reaction to see that her gift didn't work on me, this time.

"Nothing at all."

Without being able to help it, Kate growled and took a leap behind.

Kate tried to control her frustration, and I rolled my eyes at her when she turned to see me.

_I know, I'm sorry. It's a reaction I can't avoid._

Eleazar tried to get a read on any of us, and didn't find anything.

He was so surprised with Bella's success, and Kate, too, that I didn't notice at first, that Zafrina also wanted to test Bella's shield.

Everyone was beginning to feel a little bit of hope that Bella would be able to protect us against the Volturi if she kept this way.

"Can you see this?" Zafrina asked me, her eyes looked at us with concentration.

The image that was fighting to get through Bella's shield towards my mind, couldn't make it. I was seeing what Zafrina wanted to show me, but it didn't leave me blind, preventing me from being able to see it in _her_ mind instead of mine.

"I don't see anything I shouldn't."

_Let's see what Renesmee says..._ Zafrina thought, and I tensed for a fraction of a second before.

"And you, Renesmee?"

Renesmee's mind kept completely clean, without images on it. I could read everything she was thinking, and I could read what everyone else was thinking. Even when they were out of the shield. But I was still unable to hear Bella.

I didn't have time to keep focusing on that subject, but my mind was still trying to solve the puzzle on another part of my mind.

Renesmee smiled, _no, I don't see anything..._ she thought, and then she shook her head.

I heard Bella grinding her teeth together. It should be costing her too much work. After all, it was the first time that she was able to shield someone else so much time.

_Mmm, interesting. I wonder..._ I heard Zafrina thinking.

"No one panic," Zafrina told everyone, preparing to use her gift on everyone who was here. "I want to see how far she can extend."

_What?_

_What is she talking about?_

_No one panic?_

_I don't understand..._

Before they could understand what Zafrina meant, that perhaps, was too obvious, everyone was already blind with the images Zafrina put into their minds.

Kate was the first one to gasp, by being closer to Zafrina, the Denalis were next, Garrett, Benjamin, Tia, Siobhan, Maggie. When the image came to Senna, there was no reaction. She was already used to that. Her eyes didn't look at nothing now, just what was on their minds. Worried and anxious they were waiting to get their sight back immediately.

"Raise your hand when you get your sight back," Zafrina told them, and then she spoke to Bella. "Now, Bella. See how many you can shield."

Bella snorted, her eyes were on Kate who was the closest to me. I quickly wondered, if she would make it. Renesmee and I were with her, and Kate was almost three meters away. Zafrina was the only one from the group who could watch with tranquility the advance Bella had. My mind was trying to understand how her shield worked, and intent that she made it in these moments. Not many seconds passed before Kate's expression changed to one of relief when she was inside of Bella's shield, too. At the same time, I heard Bella growling lightly, I guessed it was because she had made it.

I was sure it had cost her a lot of work.

_Oh, this is... amazing. I see everything now._ Kate was almost fervently thanking.

She raised her hand so Zafrina knew that she had her sight back.

_Three meters,_ Zafrina observed. _Not bad._

"Fascinating!" I exclaimed without being able to help it. "It's like one-way glass. I can read everything they're thinking, but they can't reach me behind it. And I can hear Renesmee, though I couldn't when I was on the outside. I'll bet Kate could shock me now, because she's underneath the umbrella. I still can't hear you… hmmm. How does that work? I wonder if..."

While I kept whispering to myself, I heard Zafrina congratulating Bella again. Her shield had now reached Garrett.

"Very good. Now-"

In that same instant, my mind got erased, another image filling it completely. Bella gasped and her shield was back protecting only her.

_What is this?_ I heard Renesmee and then she shivered.

Immediately, I felt her shuddering with Zafrina's images, Bella protected her again, and her mind went blank, under Bella's shield. Renesmee sighed with relief, and her eyes blinked a few times quickly, as if assuring herself she could see right again.

"Can I have a minute?" Bella asked, her voice still gasping.

"Of course," Zafrina conceded and we all saw again.

At that same moment, Garrett considered the talent Kate had, and if it was really as useful as they all thought, or if it only worked with young or weak vampires.

I frowned, and where did that leave me?

My forehead smoothed when I remembered that Kate had been using her _low_ gift, and not at the top as Jane always did.

"Kate," Garrett said, everyone else were leaving now before Zafrina were to use her gift back with them.

"I wouldn't, Garret."

_What is it?_ Kate wondered, though her eyes kept on Garrett's curious face.

_Oh,_ Garrett half-complained when he heard me, _I don't think it's that bad._

His lips twitched while he was thinking on what he was about to do, his advance towards Kate didn't stop with my warning. "They say you can put a vampire flat on his back."

_I can't prove it on myself, either way. So I'm not sure..._

"Yes," Kate answered him.

_Does he really want to try it?_

"Curious?" Kate asked him, a smile on her face while she fluttered her fingers on the air in front of Garrett.

It was almost ridiculous what he were going to do, but there were vampires crazy enough as to prove something like that. I remembered minutely Aro, that day in Volterra, and how he commented he himself had asked Jane to use her gift on him...

"That's something I've never seen," Garrett told her after shrugging. "Seems like it might be a bit of an exaggeration."

"Maybe," Kate said, her thoughts considering the option to electrocuting Garrett, but more to show him that it _did_ work, she wanted to see his reaction after. Her mind went back to me, and how I had shuddered with her current.

_You are strong, Edward, and you're not young..._

"Maybe it only works on the weak or the young. I'm not sure," Kate continued.

_This is going to be fun, if he doesn't back off._

"You look strong, though. Perhaps you could withstand my gift," she raised her hand towards him to touch her, and her expression changed.

_Come on, Garrett._

_This will be interesting..._ Garrett was thinking, he grinned at her. Without hesitating, he touched Kate's hand.

Immediately, Garrett gasped with the force of Kate's current and fell down to the ground, his head hitting a piece of granite.

_Damn it!_ Garrett swore. But a challenge was a challenge, and he didn't regret of having done it, but neither did he wish to do it again.

"I told you so," I just whispered.

A smile lighted up his face, after recovering his control. His eyes opened and he said, "Wow."

"Did you enjoy that?" Kate asked, a little scared of that being the case for real.

"I'm not crazy," Garrett told her laughing, then he got on his knees slowly. "but that was sure something!"

"That's what I hear," Kate commented him.

I just rolled my eyes at the interchange.

Kate and Garrett had joined more than what I would have imagined in these days, and something was telling me, that perhaps it would keep going.

I had been distracted with Kate and Garrett's interchange that I had not listened well to the minds of our visitors. I didn't know them, and I didn't remember having seen them in Carlisle's memory, so I couldn't have seen them before. But Carlisle knew them.

_Stefan? Vladimir?_

"Did Alice send you?" Carlisle asked them while they were walking into the room. Almost everyone was already inside, and everyone were surprised of seeing them here.

Now I could see who it was about.

The Volturi had taken from them the Reign, the power on our civilization more than a thousand years ago.

I took off immediately towards the house, and walked in. Wanting to know what they were doing here, if it wasn't for Renesmee... I started to get worried.

Kate and Garrett took off behind me, and I heard Bella's steps, too, but they were slower. Renesmee with her.

_The Romanians, what are they doing here?_ Eleazar was wondering while I walked in.

Stefan's and Vladimir's eyes looked over the room for a second, counting the vampires who had been met here, and according to what I saw, they thought that it was to challenge the Volturi. All the opposite to what we wanted them to believe.

_They're too many..._

_But enough?_ Vladimir seemed to finish Stefan's thought.

"No one sent us," Stefan contradicted Carlisle, and it was true.

I heard Bella stopping suddenly at the kitchen, just in the moment in which Stefan spoke. And I imagined the reason, thought I couldn't be sure.

"Then what brings you here?" Carlisle asked, carefully.

_The Romanians,_ Siobhan growled inwardly.

Almost anyone in this room, were content of seeing them.

"Word travels," Vladimir said this time, announcing the reason of their being here finally. "We heard hints that Volturi were moving against you. There were whispers that you would not stand alone. Obviously, the whispers were true. This is an impressive gathering."

And, _obviously_, they had heard wrong.

Carlisle was worried suddenly, that this were being spoken everywhere, and that the news went wrong to their destiny.

_No, no, no. We do not want to fight..._ Carlisle was thinking.

"We are not challenging the Volturi," Carlisle told them, his voice was showing the tension he suddenly felt. "There has been a misunderstanding, that is all. A very serious misunderstanding, to be sure, but one we're hoping to clear up."

_Yes, yes, whatever._ Stefan thought.

_And why would we care about that?_ Vladimir.

" What you see are witnesses" Carlisle continued. "We just need the Volturi to listen. We didn't—"

Stefan got tired of listening to my Father, and interrupted him. "We don't care what they say you did. And we don't care if you broke the law."

"No matter how egregiously."

"We've been waiting a millennium and a half for the Italian scum to be challenged," Stefan explained their reason to be here, both theirs. "If there is any chance they will fall, we will be here to see it."

_They shouldn't be here..._ Tanya thought, while they kept talking.

"Or even to help defeat them," Vladimir complemented. "If we think you have a chance of success."

_I think we have to make them see why we are here,_ Eleazar thought.

Carlisle seemed to be in agreement with him. _Edward, son, they better know Nessie. I will handle it._

"Bella?" I called her, my voice didn't sound calm. But we had to see how much willing they were to help when they saw that the Volturi weren't coming on a _social_ visit to the Cullens. "Bring Renesmee here, please. Maybe we should test our Romanian visitors' claims."

Carmen, Tanya, Zafrina and Senna changed their positions when they saw Bella walking in and Renesmee to the room. Getting ready to defend Nessie if it was necessary from the Romanians' reaction.

As soon as they walked in, the two of them noticed Renesmee, and why the Volturi were moving against our family. Everything got cleared.

"Well, well, Carlisle," Stefan whispered, grinning hugely. "You have been naughty, haven't you?"

"She's not what you think, Stefan," Carlisle said.

"And we don't care either way. As we said before," Vladimir insisted.

"Then you're welcome to observe, Vladimir, but it is definitely not our plan to challenge the Volturi, as we said before."

"Then we'll just cross our fingers."

"And hope we get lucky," Vladimir concluded what Stefan said.

At the end, they both accepted to listen to our complete story, and to be present that day. Though they wouldn't give any kind of testimony, and not because they refused, but they were sure that Aro or anyone else wouldn't be very happy of seeing them here.

Any of them accepted to touch Renesmee.

At least, that, didn't affect her. She was already used to some accepting to see what she had to show them if they wanted, and if they didn't, she accepted it.

Every day, they watched carefully to each one of our visitors and friends, being careful of not missing something important on us. They saw each of our practices, mostly Bella's, they saw her getting better with her shield. Then they saw Zafrina leaving everyone blind with just thinking about it, just like Alec... Kate discharging her current, like Jane... the twins would know their rivals, they thought. They saw me answering questions no one had asked out loud, Benjamin molding his powers while he played with the four elements. Anyone who saw them, would have known what they were thinking and wishing. It was so obvious in their faces as it was in their minds.

The Volturi were in danger of losing their Reign.

And that was everything they could ask for.

Nor they nor our meeting had the hope of the same thing fulfilling, but it was there. Even Bella, in her eyes, I could see that she was beginning to believe that this would turn out well.

And how wouldn't it?

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	34. Chapter 33, SUSPICIOUS

**Hi there!**

**Yeah, I'm finally back and done with this chapter! Sorry if you consider it took me too long to update a new chapter, but well... classes are more overwhelming sometimes that what one would want! And it's just the first four weeks, we're just starting, so be patient with me. :)**

**Though I'm really organizing a new kind of schedule so I will have more free time to write enough to have the new chapters ready every week!**

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**Enjoy, of course, as always!**

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CHAPTER 33. Suspicious

The house was occupied twenty-four seven. There was no moment in which someone weren't there. Though Bella still asked me every night, to bring Renesmee back to our cottage. Esme and Rosalie preferred we stayed at the house. They felt more comfortable when the whole family was together. Just seeing each other, made us feel safer, and a little bit less tense. But, when had I been able to deny anything Bella wanted?

Teaching her how to fight, perhaps? I asked myself.

But this at least, I didn't feel capable of doing it. Esme and Rosalie were always with Emmett and Carlisle; it was just a few hours, besides.

"While we can, I want all the possible normality for Renesmee," Bella had explained to me after a few days of the same routine.

And how to refuse, both of them, the little normality that we could now have?

Jacob always walked us to the cottage, of course. He spent most of the night wandering around the woods on our surroundings, and the rest of the time, in La Push with Sam and the pack.

During the day, Bella and Benjamin were the only ones who _had_ the need of practicing with their gifts.

When these _practices_ weren't with Bella's shield, I tried to stay away. Not completely, because I couldn't bear the idea of not knowing if Bella was doing it well, either, and to make sure no one were hurting her, though it was by mistake.

Renesmee, surprisingly – up to one point – preferred to spend that while with me, than hand in hand with Zafrina and her images. Most of the time she asked me to play something for her… always, some way or another, she managed to convince me of doing something different; it wasn't hard to do it. I would have happily played for her in another situation, but since Alice had gone, I hadn't played the piano. It seemed to remind me that day, not that I needed it to remember it. And I felt guilty almost every day for neglecting my music for so long.

Sometimes we stayed at my old bedroom at the white house, listening to some of the music I had. She loved knowing my favorite songs, and most of the time we heard to those one Bella had told me were her favorites. In just a few hours, Renesmee had already her favorites, too.

One of the afternoons we spent in my bedroom, we both were listening clearly to how Bella was doing, Renesmee fluttered one of her hands towards my direction so I would get closer to her.

_Daddy! Daddy!_

I smiled at her and neared my cheek to her.

An image of the CD cover of Debussy appeared in our minds.

"Claire de Lune?" I asked her, a smile on my face.

Renesmee grinned, and nodded.

_Yes, Daddy. Claire de Lune._

I quickly searched into the box where I had put it away, and placed the CD on the stereo system. The music began filling gently the room. Renesmee was moving her head slowly from side to side to the music rhythm. And then, without previous warning, she got off the carpet and walked towards me. I smiled at her when I opened my arms so she would sit on my lap.

Going out became almost a zero possibility, except for the only time a week we went out hunting the four: Bella, Renesmee, Jacob and I.

The days were for my _whole_ family… the nights, for Bella.

My look got distracted on Bella, who was fixing a purse while we walked towards the wardrobe on the morning, before leaving to the main house.

Seeing what she was doing, I frowned.

Was she going out?

Without saying anything, I walked across the room towards where she was very concentrated on what she was doing, I wrapped my arms around her waist and rested my chin on her shoulder. Bella turned slightly to see me. "Are you planning on going out?" I asked her.

Her eyes tensed a little bit, someone who knew her less, wouldn't have noticed it.

"Ahmm, yes," her tone had a bit of anxiety, and almost… nerves.

Why would she be nervous? Did she not plan on telling me?

I didn't say anything, waiting for a wider explanation.

Bella had turned again to her purse, and then turned to see me. "I'm taking Renesmee to Charlie," was all she said.

Again, I didn't tell her anything.

"It's been already a week since Charlie saw Renesmee, and if he doesn't see her; I think without realizing, he'll show up here," she told me, her voice trembled a little bit on the last word. "And that is not a good idea, Edward. Not with the twenty-seven vampires he would run into."

I nodded slowly. "You're right."

Even when everyone had promised to not hunt on the state of Washington if it was possible, it was better for any human, much less Charlie, to show up in the house.

Bella also nodded, quickly, as if she were nervous about some reason I was failing to see.

"Renesmee also wants to see her grandpa," Bella continued, as if she were trying to keep me distracted from something. As if that could be. I could think of several thing at the same time, she herself should know that with exactitude. "It's safest for him we take her there."

Her explanations were coming out in every shapes and colors if possible, as if _that_ weren't her real reason.

"Do you want me to go with you?" I asked her, trying to see if she was hiding something from me.

But, what would she have to hide something from me for?

"No!" her voice almost came out as a shout. "No… I mean," she seemed to be trying to modulate the volume of her voice now. "you have to say here, you know. To attend our friends. It's just a casual visit."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am," Bella nodded. "We can go the tree together later. Besides, Jacob is surely coming with us."

It was the surest thing. As if Jacob were going to let pass the opportunity of leaving the house and being surrounded by _bloodsucker_, to spend the whole afternoon with Renesmee.

"It's alright, okay," I smiled a bit to her, her eyes still showed a little bit of anxiety, but they seemed more relaxed now. She seemed relieved of having convinced me of not going with them. Why? "Say hi to Charlie for me," I told her, while I kissed her neck.

Bella smiled, and nodded. "Sure," she said, and a shudder ran over her.

I smiled, too.

"Could you go get Renesmee while I finish?" Bella asked me, while she turned around to me, and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"All right," I answered her. Bella smiled again, and her lips touched mine.

It was hard to get away from her.

I walked out of the room.

Renesmee was still peacefully sleeping on her crib, but for what I was reading in her mind, she was about to wake up. Her thoughts were coming into reality, the colors that we always watched in her dreams were banishing little by little. Every time I heard her about to wake up, the memories of these moments, but with Bella in them, flooded my mind. The same change in her heartbeats, her breathing…

Her eyes blinked quickly a few times before opening completely.

Then, her look focused on my face. I smiled at her and said, "Good morning, my little one."

Renesmee responded with another dazzling smile. Her arms raised towards me, asking me to take her in my arms. And I did.

_Good morning, Daddy._ Renesmee told me when she were already in my arms.

Her hand touched my cheek. Always there was something she _could_ tell me with images, she did.

She showed me an image of us three leaving the house, and the question was easy to understand.

"Yes, we're leaving," I told her, smiling. It was hard not to smile to such an angelic face.

Bella reached us after a few second, and then we left the house. Jacob, as was usual, reached us just when we walked out of the house, and followed us.

While we were walking, I still were spinning around in my mind Bella's attitude a few moments ago. But I couldn't even _prove_, if that was the right word really, if Bella was hiding something from me through Jacob. He knew her as well as I knew her, but his eyes, as always, were resting on Renesmee solely.

When we arrived to the house, only Mary and Randall were outside for now. They had taken Alice's Porsche, instead of Carlisle's Mercedes, which was the first one on the to-be-lent list when it was necessary, but he was working on the nights in the hospital so he could be present during the day for anything that could be needed; and he was still not back.

Esme and Rosalie didn't greet us at the entrance. They, both, gave Renesmee a kiss.

As soon as we walked in, Bella commented that she would go out with Renesmee to see Charlie and explained the reason. So Rosalie decided to get her a hair-do, while Renesmee was having breakfast. Bella and I had allowed her to have human blood just this one time – there wasn't time for her to go out hunting – so that way she wouldn't be _too_ thirsty at Charlie's. Though she wouldn't be able to escape from eating human good being there. Bella was planning to spend a long while with him, she'd told me.

While Bella called Charlie to let him know, Jacob and I sat on the couch, watching Rosalie getting Renesmee ready.

"Hello?" Charlie answered at the other side of the line. Even Renesmee could hear him, and smiled when she did.

"Dad, this is Bella."

"Bells! Hi. When can I go over there? I miss my granddaughter," Charlie exclaimed, and in his tone was what he was saying, a feeling of longing.

_Grandpa Charlie…_

Bella hesitated for a second, that it might have passed unaware to Charlie. "Charlie, we've still got that strictly need-to-know company situation going. I know it's been more than a week since you saw Renesmee, but a visit is just not a good idea right now. How about I bring Renesmee over to see you?"

I wasn't sure if the tension in Bella's voice, was because of the twenty-seven vampires that were in the house, and her father's safety, or for another reason I couldn't see…

I shook my head, trying to banish those suspicious that were flooding my mind.

Bella isn't keeping anything from you, I repeated to myself.

She didn't have to, and I forced myself to stop seeing things that were not happening. Of course she was stressed. There was no way she weren't, and my Bella was still being a terrible actress.

Hadn't I been the same one to tell her that once?

"_You are a terrible actress,"_ I had told her after Charlie had gone out of the room the first night I spent with her. _"I'd say that career path is out for you."_

Charlie didn't answer back for a few seconds.

He was surely considering the situation, and what could it be to keep him away from our house so urgently.

"Need to know, ugh," Charlie growled, at last. "Okay, kid. Can you bring her over this morning?" he asked, then. Guessing Bella's plan rightly. "Sue's bringing me lunch. She's just as horrified by my cooking as you were when you first showed up."

Then Charlie laughed.

_I can imagine_, I heard Jacob thinking, and then of the so many times they had visited him to take him the fry fish he liked so much.

Then he sighed, and Bella spoke. "This morning will be perfect."

There was a tone of urgency in her voice, but again, I let pass by.

"Is Jake coming with you guys?"

_Hell, yes,_ Jacob answered while he looked at Renesmee. Rosalie was done with the task of brushing her hair and fixing it, and she had already finished with her breakfast.

Now she was anxious of going see her grandpa.

She also missed him.

Jacob got up, and walked over the kitchen to get something to eat before leaving.

"Probably," Bella answered to him.

"Maybe I should invite Billy, too," Charlie whispered, his voice half-absent. "But… hmm. Maybe another time."

Charlie was still feeling a bit upset with Billy and his knowledge of the supernatural world he hadn't been aware of it existed a few months back. They spoke to each other, yes, but he couldn't completely hide he didn't feel comfortable in his presence, knowing that he had known more on what his daughter was getting herself into, and he hadn't been told about it.

He had no idea how many times he wanted to tell him.

"See you in a few," Bella told him, and hung up.

Her eyes looked into the space for a second before turning around and see us. She smiled, and walked back to me.

"Well, think we can leave now," she let me know, and her eyes returned to Renesmee, who smiled at her, excited of going to see grandpa Charlie, finally. "Are you ready, Renesmee?"

Renesmee nodded, and let Bella take her in her arms.

I got up off the couch when they turned to see me, Jacob, from the kitchen hurried to finish.

"I'll see you soon," I told Renesmee, and kissed her on the cheek. "Behave."

Rosalie drowned a chuckled, _now you do sound like a father._

Renesmee nodded, _always, daddy._ She told me, while she gave me one of her smiles.

"We won't take long," Bella promised me, and took my hand so I would walk them to the door of the garage.

Jacob still didn't come out of the kitchen to reach them.

I stopped a few feet from the door, listening to Eleazar, Zafrina and Benjamin talking about Bella's shield. It seemed like neither Bella nor Jacob were paying any attention to that.

"Take care of yourself," I told Bella, and she nodded.

Jacob rolled his eyes, _I'm coming, I'm coming…_

"Always," she told me, and they both said goodbye.

"Jacob's already coming," I said to them while I took a step back.

Before completely leaving the house towards the background, I heard Jacob complaining as soon as he got into the garage and saw Bella and Renesmee in my Volvo.

"Why can't we take your Ferrari?"

I had been right on showing the car to Bella in Jacob's presence. He had been the only one in showing the right level of enthusiasm to such gift. And if he could, it'd be him who drove it. Bella still, and never, would get over her… shyness.

"Too conspicuous," Bella answered him, just like I imagined. "We could go on foot, but that would freak Charlie out."

I stopped listening, then.

I got to where Eleazar and everyone else were, yet speaking about the same subject. Trying to strategize for our encounter against the Volturi, in just a few weeks time.

"Edward," Eleazar told me, as a regard. Carmen, Kate and Garrett had gone out to hunt. Only him and Tanya – who was inside the house – had stayed behind.

"Eleazar," I whispered back, I looked at Zafrina and Benjamin, their thoughts were a little embarrassed for having been talking about Bella. "What is it?"

"Strategy, Edward. Just that."

Zafrina decided to speak. "We believe-"

Eleazar interrupted her, just to correct her. "I believe," he smiled, and then remembered when I myself had corrected him; his thought, not mine.

I nodded, "Alright."

"Well," Zafrina continued. Senna was close by to the group, but she didn't want to be part of the conversation they were having. "Eleazar and we were talking about how well Bella is succeeding on projecting her shield. Perhaps, when the time comes, she would be able to shield the entire group."

"And if that happens," Eleazar continued, when Zafrina stopped, though I had already seen what it was they were planning. "it would be very convenient. But if not…"

"You think she should, at least, shield Zafrina and Benjamin," I finished myself, after having heard it in their minds.

Benjamin spoke for the first time. "Yes, Edward," his tone changed, then. "Don't think we're cowards. But Eleazar thinks, that if at least we both won't be affected to the gifts of Alex, we will have more opportunities of them to be in disadvantage with our gifts. Zafrina can get them blind, and I can stop them other way…" his voice trailed off, leaving clear what he meant.

I didn't answer for a second, that seemed to be longer for them than for me.

"Maybe we should wait for Bella to be here," I didn't like taking decisions during her absence, and much less when she was the main target of such decisions.

"Of course, Edward. We were just commenting certain… _strategies_," Benjamin nodded.

"Besides we don't want this to come to a fight. Your only goal for being here is to be witnesses of Renesmee's growth, to prove that she is not an immortal child as they believe she is," I argued again.

The three of them nodded. "We know, Edward," Zafrina reminded me, just as Eleazar and Benjamin did in their minds.

"But the three of us, just like a lot more of us, will do more than witnessing if it's necessary," Eleazar said.

I sighed, and then shook my head. "I know."

_The Volturi are coming... here?_ Benjamin asked me.

"I don't know, Benjamin," I answered him. "I think that depends on the place where we decide to be, and I don't think this is the best place to be."

_What are you talking about?_ Eleazar and Zafrina both wondered.

"Of the place where we would face the Volturi," I answered them.

"Mmm, it's a good question," Zafrina said.

"It is," Benjamin agreed. "So?"

"Carlisle and I had spoken about it yet. There's a place a few miles from here," I commented, thinking about the meadow where we played baseball and they'd confronted the newborns just a few months ago. "it's a meadow of enough size."

"Of course. Is there chance of going to see it?" Eleazar asked.

"Ahmm," I whispered, hesitating.

"What?"

"Perhaps Carlisle can show it to you, Eleazar," I told him.

Eleazar frowned, but nodded. "If he wished to."

Zafrina and Benjamin interchanged a look, and then they let it go.

Carlisle came out of the house, barely arriving from the hospital a few minutes ago, hand in hand with Esme.

"Son, what's wrong?" Carlisle asked me when he reached us, talking about my refusal to go with them to the meadow, instead of him.

"Nothing, Carlisle. Everything's fine. Maybe you can interchange ideas," I told them.

"Alright," Carlisle answered, and turned towards Eleazar and everyone else. "Shall we?"

The three nodded, and Senna got closer this time.

The six of them sprinted towards the meadow, then. Soon, they disappeared.

Rosalie and Emmett were at the front lawn, arguing whether to leave and se the little variety of entertainment the TV had to offer or to go hunting.

Rosalie preferred to stay, of course; and Emmett leaving.

I walked to them, and nodded while they acknowledged me when passing them by. I sat on the porch stairs.

_Hunting?_ Emmett asked me, sitting next to me.

I shook my head. "I'm not leaving here until Bella and Nessie come back, Emmett."

"Oh, come on. We could go and come back, and Bella would never notice," Emmett joked punching mockingly on my arm.

I turned to see him, and looked him straight in his eyes. His were a golden color, far away from the black mine were already showing.

I raised my eyebrows. "Do you think that? Really?"

_Well, maybe a little bit…_

"Emmett, stop it," Rosalie told him, glaring at him.

Emmett just rolled his eyes, looking to the ground. But didn't say anything else.

Rosalie half-smiled, and decided that leaving me alone was the best idea than another. For the moment, yes, it was.

"Let's go, Emmett," she said to him while she pointed with her head to the inside of the house.

Emmett sighed, resigned to go inside and watch TV.

That was okay. I wanted to have some time to think. Though I still could hear everyone in the house's thoughts, and in a four miles radius.

Tanya was inside, too, with Peter and Charlotte. Mary and Randall had gone out to hunt, they'd taken Rosalie's Mercedes this time. All the other cars – except Bella's Ferrari and my Volvo hadn't been taken, seeing that Bella would go out – they were out of the house, too and that'd been the last one in going out. Rosalie could not refuse again, much less complain.

Tia hadn't gone with Benjamin, she had gone with Amun and Kebi to hunt, too. Taking Emmett's Jeep. Alice's Porsche had been lent to the Rumanians; and Carlisle's Mercedes had gone out of the house as soon as it came back with the Irish coven.

The Aston Martin, almost always the only one on not leaving the house. I sighed with relief when they skipped it, and preferred other ones.

Silly, I told myself. Other things were worrying me now more than that car being taken.

Firstly: Bella and her silence.

I couldn't get rid of the ridiculous idea of Bella being hiding something from me, and of course, I had no way of know what it could be.

I tried to not think of it, but I couldn't simply avoid it.

There was something strange about the way she looked at me, the ways he spoke to me, there were nervousness in her moves. That made me almost sure that Bella wasn't even aware of such. Yes, now she couldn't blush when she lied to me, but her eyes were still as clear as before.

Maybe I was exaggerating.

Why would Bella want to keep something from me? Whatever it was.

I was surely hallucinating. It was now, when I could say that, finally, there were no secrets among us.

So I stopped worrying about such nonsense.

I pulled out my cell phone from my shirt pocket, and looked at the hour. Even without checking, I knew that Bella had more than an hour of having arrived with Charlie.

Mmm…

I wasn't sure of why I was doing this, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, I was dialing the number of Charlie's house. I only wanted to make sure that they were fine, I repeated myself while I dialed. I knew that they were, but I wasn't tranquil, either way. I just wanted to listen to Bella. Wouldn't she want the same thing? It was still hard to be away from her. Maybe I should've gone with them.

Again with the exaggeration, I told myself.

Bella was totally and completely capable of taking care of herself. Even Renesmee could defend herself from any human that wanted to hurt her.

That didn't mean I could be relaxed, with them away from me.

The first phone ring rang.

Nothing.

I heard Tanya getting closer to the main door of the house.

I rose when the second ring rang, and just at the same time, Tanya came out.

"Edward?" I heard calling to me.

I didn't answer, Charlie was already picking up the phone and I could hear Renesmee laughing at the bottom.

I sighed with relief, and turned towards Tanya who when seeing the phone next to my ear, nodded, _oh, of course…_

I smiled at her, and turned my eyes to the woods.

"Hello?" Charlie answered.

I almost hung up when I heard him, I didn't want it to seem that I didn't trust Bella. I just wanted to make sure she were fine.

Since this anxiety was getting the best of me, it was hard for me to control it. It was even harder to being away from her, and Renesmee. Not having them with me, to be able to feel them and safe from anyone or anything.

I tried to control myself so I'd be able to speak.

"Charlie, this is Edward," I told him, I could listen to Jacob and Renesmee at the bottom.

"Oh, hello, Edward. Why didn't you come to visit your father-in-law, too?" Charlie asked me, a mixture of joke with reproach at the same time.

I laughed. "I'm sorry, Charlie. But right there's some guests to attend."

Charlie didn't answer for two seconds. "Mmm, yes. Some of that Jacob said," his voice was awkward now. As if he wished he hadn't brought this up.

"Charlie, could I speak with Bella for a moment, please?"

Again, it took Charlie a few seconds to answer. "Bella went out, Edward."

_Bella went out, Edward,_ the words made echo in my mind.

"What?" I asked, making sure I had listened correctly. It was impossible, I knew, that it was impossible I hadn't heard correctly to what Charlie had just told me.

"Yes, she went out. Well, she didn't even got in. She dropped Nessie and Jacob, and left."

"Where she went?"

Charlie cleared his throat, uncomfortable. "She said she had some errands to do-" Errands? "for Christmas," Charlie finished.

Errands for Christmas?

Why hadn't she told me, then?

"Oh, right," I faked remembering. As if Bella had _actually_ commented about her plans.

"Maybe she'd take a while," Charlie told me, his voice sounded relief. Maybe he'd worried about having said something that would cause _troubles_. "You want me to tell her you called?"

"Ahmm, no. It's okay. When she comes home I'll tell her, Charlie."

"Oh, well."

"What about Nessie and Jacob?" I asked him. I hadn't heard them since a few seconds ago.

"They're out there, Edward. Nessie wanted to play, at least that's what Jacob said," he snorted.

"Be sure Nessie is wrapped up," I asked Charlie. I had to fake concern over my daughter, at least over her health. I doubted the outside temperature would get her sick. She was the healthiest creature on the whole planet, surely.

I smiled to myself.

"Of course I will, Edward. We will take care of her while Bella comes back," Charlie assured me.

"I have to go, Charlie. Please don't tell them about the phone call. I just wanted to know if they were fine. Bella didn't call back to let me know they were already there," I didn't even have to lie, not even once. At least on that last part.

"Alright," Charlie agreed. "See you, Edward."

"Goodbye, Charlie."

I was a little bit nervous when I hung up. Would Charlie tell Bella I called? I didn't want to look as if I didn't trust her, because I did. I had told the truth to Charlie, of part of it. I just wanted to know they were okay. And if Bella hadn't told me that she would go shopping for the Christmas Holiday, maybe it was because she wasn't. Neither she nor anyone in this house were thinking about that date, and the surest thing, was that Charlie did remember it. Bella could have decided to take advantage of her being out to go do some shopping.

Yes, it was that.

I sighed deeply, and turned around. Tanya was still in the porch.

Still, my mind was more concentrated on Bella yet. I didn't understand why I couldn't banish the suspicious of she might be hiding something else.

Tanya smiled, and sat on the last step.

_What's wrong, Edward? What have you worried now?_

The worry, and I didn't know exactly why I was feeling it, was obvious in my face.

I half-smiled, and sat on the first step.

"Bella and Nessie went out…"

"Oh," Tanya whispered, nodding.

_Worried about _them_? Come on, Edward. They're more dangerous than any human, you know?_

I tried to laugh, that same thing I had thought. "I know, Tanya. But still, I can't help it," I shook my head. No, I couldn't. "Besides, it's the first time I'm away from them."

Tanya nodded again. _I see._

Tanya's look got distracted for a moment, and it took me a second to realize on what.

The wedding band.

_It'd be unfair, don't you think?_ Tanya asked me suddenly.

But I didn't answer her.

"You're just, what? Four months of being married with Bella?" Tanya asked out loud now, looking for an answer from me.

I frowned, I didn't want to talk about that.

Tanya knew my expression right away. The reluctance in my look and my posture. But as always, she wouldn't drop the subject so easily.

"I have to accept that Bella made a big change in you, Edward," Tanya said, her voice, also, had some reluctance. "The change that I would have wanted to make in you."

I sighed. "Tanya…"

"I know, I know. I am, or was, too much good for you," her voice seemed mocking. "You already told me that. But I wouldn't have cared about that, you know?"

It was uncomfortable, and I completely refused to keep talking about the same thing.

"I like her, more than I would've expected when I knew you were marrying, Edward."

_I'm honest, and you know it…_

"And with a human," Tanya finished.

I couldn't help it, I chuckled. Yes, who would've imagined it?

"And Nessie," she muttered, while she shook her head in amazement. "she's simply wonderful."

_Though that shouldn't seem weird to me,_ I heard her thinking on me, too.

"She is, Tanya," I told her, but I was thinking on someone else. "She's simply wonderful because of the mother she has. I couldn't ask for anyone else better," maybe my tone would have seemed like I was talking about _her_, but I wasn't. I wasn't saying it because of Tanya…

I had always known Renesmee was so perfect, thanks to Bella.

Her face could have been identical to hers, and it would have been completely perfection, her hair could have been as dark as Bella's, and it would have been perfection. I didn't care about the resemblances they all said she had to me. The warmth of her skin, the blood running through her veins, the beats of her heart were more treasured than everything else, and that was thanks to Bella.

"Everything will work out, Edward. The Volturi will stop and listen. Nessie will be able to keep growing and living with you," Tanya suddenly told me. "They will be forced to understand she is no immortal child. Don't worry."

"I hope so, Tanya," my voice sounded insecure. It was different with her, with Bella I couldn't let her heard me speaking this way. I didn't want her to get more worried, to believe that everything'd fail and we couldn't do anything for Renesmee. I didn't believe it either, but it was hard to be one hundred percent sure that everything will work out well. Even when I wished so fervently. "It's all I ask for. I think everyone, at least my family, thinks so."

"We think, Edward," Tanya assured me, with the plural. "Because we are part of your family."

I smiled, and nodded. "Of course you are, cousin."

Tanya answered with another smile.

It was curious how being in love, really left you blind. Before knowing Bella, before even knowing I loved her, I could appreciate Tanya's beauty. But now, the only thing I saw was the face of my angel there was no women in this world that could take away my attention from Bella to them.

"Do you know the date when the Volturi will be arriving, Edward?" Tanya asked me.

"Not exactly. Alice said that little more than a month," I started telling her.

_Yes, something like that you said…_ Tanya commented.

"when the snow sticks to the ground, Tanya. And that will be, in little more than a month. At least that's what Alice calculated," I finished telling her.

Tanya mused over it for a moment.

"It's still difficult to believe they're all coming. But if it's like Eleazar said, if what they want is more than punishment…"

"Maybe if Bella weren't with us, it'd work out the plan they have."

"Aro wants you, too. At least that's what Bella said, right?" Tanya asked, her forehead wrinkled.

I sighed. "Not as much as he wants Alice."

"Is that why she left, then?"

_Because other way, I wouldn't understand why Alice would've abandoned you all. She loves you all, Edward._

"We cannot be one hundred percent sure, but I suspect that was her reason."

"Of course."

Tanya stayed silent for a second. "Do you think… Irina… will come with them?"

It was something awkward, you could tell.

"I don't know. But, having been the _witness_, who saw Renesmee with Bella, and gave the _proof_ that we had broken the rules… she would probably come with them."

"You're right."

_It's just… I'm afraid they'd punish her for her mistake._

"I know, Tanya. And I don't want to be the one who speaks to you about it. But, what do you they'll do?"

"I'm afraid it's Caius who imposes… the _punishment_," Tanya said.

"I am, too, afraid," I answered, sighing.

Her thoughts went from Irina to her mother, and back to Irina in little more than a fraction of a second. It was hard for Kate and Tanya to simply be apart from their sister, and she didn't want to imagine how it would to go through losing another member of her family again. Her family still _cried_ over her mother's dead, and she was trying to be optimistic about nothing going to happen.

I didn't tell her anything, but I wasn't sure that Irina would come out of this without a punishment.

But just like she, I was hoping it wasn't death. It seemed to me like something extreme to turn out that way at the end.

We both heard the group that had left with Carlisle and Esme to the meadow where – probably – we would face the Volturi.

Only we were hoping it was a meeting, rather than a confrontation.

_Shall we?_ Tanya told me, while she got on her feet.

I nodded and we both walked into the house through the front door, at the same time that they walked in through the back door.

Kate, Carmen and Garrett came with them.

Carlisle and Esme smiled when they walked in. Eleazar and Benjamin walked right towards me, while Zafrina and Senna stayed a little behind. Tanya met with Kate, Carmen and Garrett.

Kate saw us walked in together, and quickly thought about what Tanya _could_ have told me.

"What did you think?" I asked Eleazar and Benjamin.

Eleazar was the one who answered. "The place's perfect. It's got the ideal size for the number of vampire who are meeting there; and it's far away enough from any kind of human population."

I slowly nodded. "That's right."

"And it's not the first time that it works for a confrontation," Eleazar mumbled. "Carlisle commented to us it was there where you fought those… newborns," his voice stopped for a second, remembering that that time they had refused our family their help. "But this time we will all be there, too."

"Though this won't turn into a fight," I insisted.

"That they know already," Carlisle said, too.

"Yes, we all hope this won't turn into a fight, Edward," it was Benjamin who said. "But if it would, we will be on your side."

"That is ridiculous!" we heard all of a sudden to Alistair from the attic growling again. "As if we had any chance of beating the Volturi down."

Carlisle smiled to himself when he heard him.

_Of course we do have a chance_, Benjamin thought.

"I think I'll go practicing…" Benjamin said, after listening to Alistair. His gift, though powerful, was still _new_ and he had a lot to do to be able to control it perfectly well, no failing; and at those moments, according to him, it was the least he could do. He thought on Bella, and how much she was also practicing to get to control _her_ gift.

Zafrina already had too much time knowing her gift, and it was something that came to her easily.

The Denalis, except for Eleazar, stayed inside of the house, while Carlisle, Eleazar, Benjamin and I went out. After a few minutes, even Emmett came out.

I chuckled, when I realized that outside we were only men, and the women had stayed inside.

Hmph…

Benjamin had several hours practicing already. It was incredible how _powerful_ his talent turned out to be. It was impossible to us to imagine that there was some shield in the world that could do anything against his gift. Eleazar, having been the one who always was looking for gifts like this one for Aro, was impressed at what he could do. How easily he handled the earth underneath his feet, the wind that blew around he turned it into little tornados, but he made sure he could do more, like it was not necessary at this moment… the fire, the water from the river. None of the four elements could resist against being handled as he wanted.

I could heard the Rumanians from inside the house, commenting in _low_ voices about what they were seeing, and the hope that was growing every time they saw something like that, that this would be the end of the Volturi.

They had hope it were going to be that way, but that was not _our_ plan…

Carlisle wouldn't be very happy if he could listen to what some of the vampires here were thinking about what was coming.

The hours were passing by more slowly than what I could bear. We were half the afternoon already and Bella wasn't back yet from Charlie's. I had no idea how long it could take her to do the Christmas shopping, besides she wouldn't want to hang out a bit with her father, too.

Calm down, I told myself. Renesmee might not be with Bella, but Jacob is. And he would never allow anything, absolutely anything, to happen to her.

Carlisle noticed my distraction, and the worry in my face.

I believed it didn't notice, but I see I was wrong. Carlisle noticed it immediately.

_What is it, son? What's worrying you?_ He asked me while he came closer.

"Nothing _you_ have to worry about, Carlisle," I told him while I shook my head.

"Then?"

"It's Bella," I told him, remembering the little weird details from this morning. "I think, or feel that she's hiding something from me. But I don't see what she'd need to hide from me."

"Mmm, I see," Carlisle whispered.

_But, as you say, there's nothing she would need to keep from you, Edward. Don't worry._

"I know, Carlisle. But it's just that…"

"Son, if she didn't tell you something, she sure will. Stop worrying about nothing," Carlisle insisted.

I nodded slowly, more for agreeing with him, than for feeling it.

I checked the time. The sun was about to set down, and Bella wasn't back.

How much did she want to see her father?

I suddenly wondered, if the Christmas shopping excuse, had been exactly that: an excuse.

I stopped thinking about that for the tenth time in the day.

I concentrated on what was happening in the house, just to distract my mind.

Benjamin and Zafrina were taking a much closer relationship than what we would have imagined possible. The two of them were starting to plan and strategize the best ways in which would be more appropriate to attack the Volturi if it got to be necessary. They always kept that: _if it got to that point_. But I knew that it was more because they knew I could hear them, that we all could when we were surrounding them. More than anything, because we Cullens weren't looking for a fight against them.

It was difficult to convince them of that.

Amun thought _almost_ the same as Alistair; and he let us know so very often. But the more verbal one about that was Alistair, of course.

But we had an advantage on our side. Eleazar. He knew perfectly well each talent each of the members of the Volturi guard had. He could tell us how powerful they were, how much they could do against us or couldn't do in the case Bella succeeded on projecting her shield and protecting the whole group during the time it was necessary.

If she made it, perhaps they would be the ones in disadvantage, not us.

It suddenly came to my memory, Maggie.

As soon as the Volturi would arrive, and told the reason why they were here. _Punish_ our family for having broken the law, she would know if it was because of that or for what Eleazar and I suspected: acquisition. Especially Alice.

But if I was being honest, I knew that Aro also had the intention of acquiring _my_ gift.

It intoxicated him the idea of being able to know the future, of being able to hear the thoughts of others on long distance. Any of the two of us could be of great help if we were in the guard. Because any of the two of us could let him know if someone was coming with another purpose than a simple peace visit. Alice with tremendous anticipation; and me, less time, but enough to warn them.

So many reasons had crossed his mind since I showed up that afternoon in Volterra. So many advantages we would bring to the Volturi if Alice and I joined them.

And now… with Bella, too.

As soon as he read my thoughts the day they came, they would know how powerful her shield was, or what it would become in a short time period.

We wouldn't be his only two targets, but three.

I didn't even want to think on what he would want when he knew about Renesmee. When he knew that she wasn't an immortal child, but half-human; and her gift.

I banished that thought immediately before they drove me crazy with worry.

It was already enough with what I had to worry about, and to sum up more things to the list was making it worse.

I focused on the good moments that I had spent with my Bella, with Renesmee, with our family…

Of course, almost everyone had Bella as the star.

I remembered that first time I sat beside her in the Biology class, not when I _was_ so close to killing her… no, that first time that I could talk with Bella, to see and try to unearth her thoughts through her beautiful eyes. The way her skin blushed with just crossing her look with my eyes, the way her intuition surprised me, from the very first time she saw me she knew that something was wrong with me, perhaps _wrong_ hadn't been Bella's choice, something _different_. From the very first moment she spoke I had been fascinated with her, with her answer, and the way her mind didn't seem to work the same way everyone else's did.

The first characteristic I found out was part of her personality, that perfect soul of her… I stopped right there, going back to my memories and not to that subject.

_"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy… so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie."_

I remember the way that little V between her eyes had shown when she finished her explanation.

"_But now you're unhappy."_

"_And?"_

That little answer from Bella had allowed me to go finding out more about what her mind was hiding.

Something that for over a month, I thought I would never get to know more deeply. After that morning in which I had saved her from the path that would lead to her death, and not because of me.

_Not her!_ I remember how the words made echo in my mind while I saw the future that was waiting for Bella in Alice's mind. The path I followed through while I ran across the lot in less than a second towards the place where Bella was, they I'd felt the warmth coming off of her against my body when I reached her and got her off the path of Tyler's van. How I had believed having hurt her myself more than what that van would have. I remembered, though it was from Tyler's memories, how my name had sounded coming out of Bella's lips for the first time. At least the first time _I_ heard it.

"_Um… Edward pulled me out of the way."_

"_Edward Cullen,"_ Bella had repeated when Tyler had not understood who she meant.

Always, even now I felt an electric current while I remembered the many times I had heard my name coming out of her lips.

"_I was wondering if... well, if you might be planning to ask me,"_ Mike had asked Bella. That day, thanks to him, at least I owed that to Mike, I had realized that I couldn't ignore her anymore. Bella's future had passed in front of my eyes at that instant, but I would never have imagined like now, that in that future _I_ was there for eternity.

I smiled to myself, still remembering.

"_No, I'm not going to the dance at all,"_ Bella had answered him, and some kind of relief had washed through me.

Either, not Mike or Tyler or Eric succeeded on getting the so wished "yes" from Bella.

"_Thank you for asking me, but I'm going to be in Seattle that day,"_ those words had been a relief to me, and a disappointment to Eric.

"_I really am going to be out of town__."_

Even now, with Bella as my wife and having a daughter, knowing that I had her for the eternity – because I was still hoping I would – I smiled when I remembered how she had rejected all those ones who I had once considered _my_ rivals.

"_Edward. Edward. Stay. Don't go. Please… don't go,"_ I could remember each one of the words Bella had uttered since the first time I had listened to her voice. But these ones, had made me realize that I was in love with her, that I was something I could not stand against for anymore, that if well I _couldn't_ have her, I couldn't stay from her. _She_ wanted me by her side…

That first yes. _"Will you go to Seattle with me?"_

Bella had just nodded yes, but that had been enough. It seemed that from that day ahead, it would be _yes_ what I would get from Bella.

"_I smelled the blood,"_ I remembered Bella telling me, after having been forced to leave the Biology class with _Mike_…

"_People can't smell blood."_

"_Well, I can – that's what makes me sick. It smells like rust… and salt."_

That day I had spent more time with her than what I would have imagined I could have her with me. All those memories and a lot, much more would be in my memory for the eternity. I would be that, even, after leaving this world.

"_Are you frightened of me now?"_ the question now, seemed almost ridiculous. Maybe Bella had never been frightened of me. Excepting that first meeting.

How not being so with the undeserved hatred I felt towards her? Towards the monster I was?

"_No,"_ Bella had answered, so quickly, that I thought she wasn't telling the entire truth, but not lying, either.

Our _first_ date, that it technically wasn't, not when I didn't even give Bella a chance to refuse. Port Angeles, at least, had a significant memory, a good memory that I wasn't willing to leave in the darkness. Bella had chosen staying with me, even when she already knew the monster I was…

"_I dazzle people?"_

"_Haven't you noticed? Do you think everybody gets their way so easily?"_

"_Do I dazzle _you_?"_

"_Frequently,"_ Bella had said while her cheeks got on fire with a subtle pink color.

I was happy when I heard her, my words had come out of my mouth without even thinking. Luckily, I didn't have to regret having said them, Bella had answered in the only way that could make my day better.

"_I feel very safe with you."_

I smiled again to myself, opposite reaction to the one from that night.

All those memories, made me as happy as having Bella with me here, even when at that time, they didn't just make me happy but unhappy because of the future I knew threatened Bella by my being by her side. Now that future was already here, and never – before meeting Bella – I had been this happy and had felt so complete like now.

I remembered that feeling… so… indescribable I felt when Bella, even when I had already _refused_ a few seconds before allowing her to touch my cold and hard hand; her touch had been so soft, so warm and wonderful. And she had _liked_ it.

"_I decided it didn't matter,"_ Bella finished, her voice repeating itself in my mind over and over again.

"_It didn't _matter_?"_

"_No,"_ her voice so soft and tender. _"It doesn't matter to me what you are."_

"_You don't care if I'm a monster? If I'm not _human_?"_

"_No."_

How had I deserved the love of such a pure and adorable angel as Bella, I would never understand.

But it was in moments like this one, that I thanked for being what I was. Because if I wasn't, I would never have known her, I would've never known happiness…

"_So you like him, then?"_ Jessica's voice was now the one that came to my mind.

"_Yes."_

"_I mean, do you _really_ like him?"_

Even through only memories, I knew that the room, the whole forest could have gone into fire and I wouldn't have noticed.

"_Too much,"_ her voices banished, on my own choice. Everything else, not before nor now, made sense.

I suddenly found myself again in the Biology classroom two years ago or so. Bella was by my side in the complete darkness, an electric charge flooding on me by being so close to her, by feeling alone in her companion…

That very much nice feeling hadn't left me since that first time.

The way it had been the first time my hands, so cold and hard as they were, had been able to touch without hurting Bella, the way I had feared from the beginning, her soft skin hadn't been in any danger.

I had considered so many times that just _touching_ her was a mistake, and we had come so far…

"_It's the color of your eyes today,"_ Bella sighed. _"I suppose if you'd ask me in two weeks I'd say onyx."_

"_So you never met anyone you wanted?"_

"_Not in Phoenix."_

How many other way could Bella have told me and confirmed me that only me had won her heart? Beating or not, it would always be mine.

"Son, are you okay?" my father's voice pulled me out of my daydream.

I blinked, and looked up at Carlisle's anxious eyes.

Then he sighed, _Ah, Edward, son, I was speaking to you…_

"I'm sorry. I wasn't listening," it seemed incomprehensible to everyone else my answer.

Emmett, knowing me, just shook his head.

_You're still as _insane_ as always, brother,_ he thought while grinning.

"What is it, Carlisle?"

"Benjamin was wondering what time would Bella be back. Kate and Zafrina wanted to keep practicing with her shield. They think she should keep going with the practices."

I frowned, for what Carlisle had said and for what I heard Emmett thinking.

_Yes! Maybe a _physical_ practice is missing too…_ he was saying while thinking on the frail trees.

Carlisle, of course, misunderstood my expression.

"I'm sorry, son. I shouldn't-"

"No, no, it's not that. Bella didn't give me a specific hour."

Carlisle looked down at his watch, and became silent, confused by the time Bella'd taken so far. But didn't say anything.

My forehead frowned deeper.

It was true, Bella had already several hours outside of house.

I held back an answer, and more than anything, a sigh of desperation.

I was getting anxious. And I knew that when I reached that point, my head would not stop spinning around until I saw them both, Bella and Renesmee walking through that door, and being sure that my angels were completely fine.

It was still confusing knowing that both of them were out, without me with them.

None of them mentioned again the time in which Bella was supposed to come back. But the anxiety had already spread through my mind.

I growled under my breath.

The suspicions, again, came back to me.

Was Bella hiding something of extreme importance from me? But, why?

Because of Aro?

Bella knew perfectly well that it would be me who showed him our memories and all the proof that Renesmee was a half-immortal and half-mortal child. Daughter of Bella and mine. All the thoughts of our friends, of our family would be Aro's when the day came. Perhaps there was something she didn't want _him_ to know about when we were face to face, when his hand touched me and everything that had been passing through my mind, everything I had heard, I had read in everyone else's minds, would be his property, too.

I shook my head.

If that was her purpose…

I stopped thinking about that, and I walked for the first time in days, since Alice had left, towards my piano.

All eyes from my family, Esme and Carlisle, Rosalie and Emmett went to my form walking to the piano.

This was a good way of keeping my head entertained and busy in other stuff. I would try to not think on Bella's attitude anymore. Because, if my suspicions were right, I didn't want to know what she was keeping fro me, really. Just imagining that Bella had secrets with me, was enough, and if anything of what I was thinking was true, was better I stopped thinking that it indeed was something hidden.

_Edward is playing again?_ I heard Esme thinking, almost happily.

All, the four of them, were a little bit impressed by this.

_Are you composing again, Edward?_ Rosalie asked me, remembering how different her attitude was from the last time a situation like this one had repeated. Now she was _happy_, and that time, she had been sulking by seeing I paid attention to my music once again.

I just shook my head slowly, Rosalie knew it was her I was answering to.

The Irish coven was complete as soon as I sat. Amun and Kebi walked in after getting back from hunting, and gathered round with Benjamin and Tia, Carmen, Tanya and Eleazar were also inside of the house. Maggie and Randall were chatting with Peter and Charlotte. Everyone else was outside of the house, they had interchanged with the ones who had already come back, cars to leave hunting, too.

I started playing, and I could see from Carlisle, the way the smile spread across Esme's sweet face, while she recognized the melody, the nameless tribute that I had written about her and Carlisle's love during all these years.

The music filled little by little the not so quiet room.

Esme and Carlisle were sitting on the last step. Carlisle had his arms wrapped around Esme, and keeping both, their hands tightly together.

Their thoughts were more optimistic than before. For a reason that I couldn't understand completely.

But I didn't find it strange, that attitude of them both. They had always had the capacity of having hope, even in the worst situations. And here they were, again, together and waiting for everything to turn out well. Their thoughts were focused on their family, their siblings, their granddaughter.

Without the music stopping, I changed the melody to Chopsticks, it seemed almost like a repeat of that afternoon.

But the atmosphere changed lightly to the compass of the music.

We were all aware that they were Alice's favorites. I always played the same ones to her, and without her here, a tone of sadness got the best of us.

Emmett and Rosalie moved towards the couch. Emmett, almost immediately took the control remote and Rosalie cradled beside him.

_Oh, Edward, play Nessie's lullaby…_ Esme asked me, since the first time she had loved it.

I nodded slowly, and started playing it.

As soon as I was finished, I played melodies that had been my favorites during all this time.

And suddenly, I heard the happy – by nature – Renesmee's thoughts.

They were back.

I smiled widely when I heard her. And a current of fervent relief ran through me. In her thoughts showed very often the face of Charlie and Jacob. I guessed, that because she had spent most of her day with them.

It had actually been a good idea for Renesmee to visit her grandfather. For what I could see, she was happy of having seen Charlie.

I smiled again. Her happiness made me happy, too.

I couldn't see Bella, not hear her, but they were getting closer quickly. I knew the sound of the tires of the Volvo perfectly well, and I could already hear the sound.

In a few seconds, they were touching the road that led to the house.

I smiled when I listened to both. Renesmee's heart was such a part of me as it was of her, I recognized her heartbeats from miles away, as it had been that way once with my Bella's treasured heartbeats.

All my worries banished in an instant.

My angels were back to me.

* * *

**Well, we're getting closer to the end, such a shame! But, every beginning has an ending! :(**

**So, hope you enjoyed this one, and I'll be waiting for your reviews!**


	35. Chapter 34, DECLARED

**Hi everyone!**

**Yeah! I finally finished this chapter, and I was surprised at myself, and how quickly I wrote it, in just two days, can you believe it? I know, those two days were not in a row, but, well... I finished, that's the whole point :)**

**Thank you all who've reviewed, especially the last chapter, I really appreciate it, and love reading you love what I write! So, I hope you enjoy this new chapter, and hope I can have the next one ready pretty soon. And, Bruno Mars? What do you think about him being in the Breaking Dawn soundtrack. I'm still not sure, until I hear the song he wrote! And lucky him!**

**Okay, enjoy, and I'll be waiting your reviews!**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

* * *

CHAPTER 34. Declared

It was impressive how fast my worries and concerns, so much anxiety I had felt as to have to try to calm me down through my music, had banished completely with just hearing Renesmee, with just knowing that Bella was already back.

I shook my head, marveled with the control they had over me, both.

All the vampires in the house reacted when they listened to the sound of the tires on the road that led to the house.

Rosalie and Emmett, immediately knew it was the Volvo, hence, Bella and Renesmee, so they kept on what they were doing without any kind of interruption. Carlisle and Esme, also knew the sound of the Volvo, and they just smiled when they saw the change in my expression. Because there was one, though I were unaware of it. I always saw it through everyone else. The other vampires in the house, when they saw any reaction out of place among us, didn't say anything either.

Renesmee was fast asleep, completely unconscious that she was back to home.

Some of our guests were enjoying in silence of the music coming out of the piano. While I waited, with another kind of anxiety, for Bella to walk through the door.

I listened to Renesmee's thoughts changing – slowly – as soon as she processed the music.

Then, Bella jumped out of the car and closed the door.

Only a few seconds more, I told myself, while I switched the music to Bella's lullaby.

I smiled, when I imagined the way Bella was taking Renesmee in her arms, softly, trying - I imagined – to not wake her.

Bella was slowly walking towards the house, and that got me as desperate as excited.

I resisted the urgency of getting on my feet and reach her in the place where she was, I would be much faster than her again, finally. It felt, strangely, exciting to know that both of them were coming back to me. My two angels.

At last, Bella walked through the door.

Renesmee looked like a little angel in her arms. Giving it more truthfulness to my way of seeing her.

I turned towards them, and smiled to both, though, of course, only Bella could see it.

"Welcome home," I told her, without stop playing. "Did you have a good time with Charlie today?" the music seemed to welcome her more than my words.

Carlisle and Esme smiled.

"Yes," Bella answered, being now right by my side. "Sorry I was gone so long. I stepped out to do a little Christmas shopping for Renesmee. I know it won't be much of an event, but…" Bella shrugged, while she let her voice trailed off.

Mmm. I hadn't considered the idea of Bella wanting to celebrate Christmas.

But it would be Renesmee's first Christmas, so…

I stopped playing, and turned myself around in the bench to her. I placed one hand on her waist to get her closer to me. "I hadn't thought much about it. If you want to make an event of it-"

"No," Bella answered, interrupting me. I could imagine the reason behind her reaction. "I just didn't want to let it pass without giving her something"

The only one _disappointed_ on hearing Bella was Esme.

If there was an opportunity to be together in family, was something that Esme always liked.

But a thought crossed my mind. A reason – perhaps – completely different than what Bella had to not celebrate the event.

The family wasn't complete.

"Do I get to see?"

"If you want. It's only a little thing," Bella told me.

_Oh_, Esme thought, _we also have to give something to our granddaughter…_ her thoughts followed the same path, considering gifts for her precious granddaughter, she said.

Carefully of not moving Renesme or waking her up while she was sleeping with her head laid over her neck, Bella opened her purse. It seemed to me – I didn't want to put too much thought into that detail, I was getting paranoid – that Bella did it with too much care, as if she expected me to not see inside of it.

"It caught my eye from the window of an antique store while I was driving by," Bella said to me, her tone was real.

Again, suspicions crossed my mind.

All day long out…?

I stopped again, I didn't want to continue thinking on my Bella that way.

Bella put it in my hand, and I watched it for an instant. It was small locket made of gold. I opened it, and in one side of it had enough room to place a little picture, and in the other side was an inscription in Franch:

_Plus que ma propre vie._

I felt a lump in my throat when I read it.

"Do you know what this says?" I asked her.

"The shopkeeper told me it said something alone the lines of 'more than my own life'. Is that right?" Bella answered me.

_More than my own life…_ the words wouldn't stop spinning around in my head.

I heard Esme and Carlisle reacting, also due to the lines.

"Yes, he had it right."

I looked up at her, and held her look for a few seconds. There was some sort of reluctance in them that I didn't completely understand. As if everything I _suspected_ were right. It was hard to find an answer. Her eyes wouldn't tell me anything of what I needed to know like in other times they had.

And then, to make it worse, she took her look away towards the TV.

Did she want to make me believe she was distracted?

Never, she had never been a person who watched TV. Yes, it only made it worse. Because now I was sure she was keeping something from me. Though I had no idea what it was.

"I hope she likes it," Bella mumbled, I guessed with the purpose of distracting _me_.

"Of course she will," I answered her, trying to keep my tone calmed. But just the way she didn't fool me, in my tone was obvious I was trying to keep myself casual.

My eyes rested on Renesmee again, totally and completely asleep in her arms.

She was surely very tired, and the only thing I was thinking of that second, was to go back home. Having her in her crib quietly, while we took care of her.

"Let's take her home," I told her, while I stood up and wrapped my arm around her shoulders to turn her around.

At that moment, I also wanted some normality, and forget everything that had passed through my mind this day.

But it seemed like Bella didn't thinking as I did.

She hesitated, as if she weren't sure of telling me or asking me for something.

"What?"

"I wanted to practice with Emmett a little…"

She didn't have to finish, Emmett reacted immediately.

_Just like I wanted, little sis,_ he thought excitedly of doing something else than being sitting around watching TV.

But it was already late, and I wanted to take Renesmee home.

She didn't have any fault of Bella deciding to come back so late.

Of course, those thoughts I wouldn't voice them out lout. There would be no practice tonight.

Emmett turned around on the couch towards us, looked at us and grinned. "Excellent. The forest needs thinning."

I frowned at Emmett. _What, Edward?_ He thought with faked innocent.

_Emmett!_ I heard Rosalie.

I turned to see Bella, my forehead wrinkled to her, too. "There's plenty of time for that tomorrow."

"Don't be ridiculous," Bella cried out, her tone whining. But I expected her answer. "There's no such thing as plenty of time anymore. That concept does not exist. I have a lot to learn and-"

"Tomorrow," I interrupted the flood of words. I wasn't listening, I had already decided that _today_, or tonight, there would be no practice. Renesmee needed some tranquility and rest in her home. Bella should understand better than anyone else.

Emmett returned his eyes to the television, while Rosalie chuckled to his expression.

Bella on the other side, frowned too, and her look had a bit or rage, but she nodded, and she let me guided her to the door.

Carlisle and Esme got on their feet to say goodbye to us and wish us a good night as it was usual.

_Don't be so hard on her, Edward,_ Esme tried to scold me over my behavior.

I sighed, and nodded.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Esme said, while she came over to us and kissed Renesmee on her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Nessie."

We said goodbye, and walked out towards our home.

Bella laid Renesmee down on her crib without the need to read her something tonight. She was soundly asleep and there were no signs of her waking up anytime soon.

My eyes were looking at her, and at the same time they were watching her.

I knew that if Bella would've been still a human, her cheeks would've been burning because of the way I was looking at her. I was trying to see, to find something that gave me the reason, that would teld me: oh, yeah, she's keeping something from you.

But just like I'd been all day, I tried to stop myself.

The next morning, with a lot of effort, Bella chose to go back a little earlier than we usually did to the white house. She wanted to practice a little, according to her, she'd lost too much time.

And I was sure that Emmett, at least, would be delighted with seeing us so early over there.

So when we returned to the house, Renesmee was still asleep. Even Jacob was getting some rest under the shadow of a few trees that surrounded the front lawn. His muzzle got off the ground as soon as he heard the sound of the door being opened.

_Huh? What time is it if they're leaving already,_ Jacob wondered.

"It's still early, Jake," I answered him.

_So?_

"Bella wants to practice."

Jacob nodded, and got off the ground to walk back with us.

I was trying, almost in vain, while we were walking, of finding something in Jacob that would tell me something about Bella's attitude. But there was nothing. It almost seemed deliberate the way he was keeping his thoughts controlled. I didn't find it strange that he could, he was good at that. What it seemed strange to me, was that he were doing it right now.

Had Bella told him something?

"How was the trip to Charlie's house?" I asked Jacob, trying to making him think about it, though it were for a second, would be enough.

Bella by my side, got stiff before she could control herself.

"_How long do we get to hang out with Charlie?"_ I heard the memory in his mind passing through.

"_For quite a while, actually,"_ Bella answered him, and there was tone that surprised him.

"_Is something going on here besides visiting your dad?"_

"_Jake, you know how you're pretty good at controlling your thoughts around Edward?"_

"_Yeah?"_

Bella just nodded to this last and didn't say anything more.

Mmm.

So there _was_ something she was keeping from me. But again, it was only more frustrating, because I had no idea of what could it be. Not even a hint.

I frowned, and Jacob realized the little mistake he had just done when he listened to my question.

Still, he pretended like nothing had happened. _Easy_, he answered me while we kept walking.

I nodded. "Good."

Renesmee woke up just in the moment we were walking through the door, and Carlisle and Emmett greeted us, Esme and Rosalie had gone out. Jacob had phased back to human before reaching the lawn, so he walked in with us, too.

"Where's Grandma Esme and Aunt Rose?" Renesmee asked before going out.

Carlisle smiled, and caressed her cheek. "They went out to do some shopping, Nessie. But they'll be back soon."

Renesmee smiled at him, and nodded.

Emmett and Bella went out almost immediately to the background to start practicing. And this time Renesmee spent that time with Jacob, Carlisle had some things to speak about with me.

"Benjamin and Tia went out, son, but they want to talk to Bella about... ahmmm... about her shield. Zafrina would rather wait for him to come back so they'll speak with her, too. What do you say?" his voice had some hesitation in his tone.

I smiled lightly. "It sounds good. I didn't have opportunity to say anything about it to Bella yesterday, so I'll take Zafrina's option."

Carlisle nodded. "Yes, seems like the best to me."

Kate came to us, then. "Hi, Edward," she greeted me.

"How are you, Kate?"

"I was listening to you, and I think we should practice with her shield, too. Yesterday we lost the entire day."

I smiled with annoyance. "Why do you think we're here so early?"

Kate smiled. "I figured. It's _two_ practices Bella missed."

I snorted, because if Bella succeeded to shield us all, there would be no need for her to have to fight. In this moment she didn't have to be outside with Emmett.

_We all know you would rather Bella not fighting, Edward,_ Kate told me, guessing where my thought were, _but she has to be ready in case she has to fight. _And_ you know it._

I made a face, and changed the subject.

Kate smiled when she saw my reaction.

_It's true_, I heard her telling me while I started talking.

"I guess we have to get to work with her shield the soonest possible," I said, seeing Kate, who was the one in charge of working with Bella in that.

Kate nodded, just like Carlisle.

"Let me know when Bella is ready," she said, and then went to her family.

"Esme and Rosalie heard that Bella doesn't want to make an even due to Christmas," _well, just like everyone_, he thought laughing. "but they went to shop some things, anyway. Is it okay?"

_Esme doesn't want to celebrate, either. Without Alice and Jasper here... _

I sighed. "Ah, it's okay, Carlisle."

"It's the second Christmas our family won't be whole," Carlisle whispered, remembering the last time in which it was _me_ who had been absent.

I couldn't help the grimace when I remembered, too, that Holiday, those _Holidays_.

This time it would be so different, and at the same time so similar.

Bella was with me now, yes, we even had Renesmee, something we never imagined we would, the family would be _together_, except for Alice and Jasper, as Carlisle had said. Those were days of tension, and pain... and these ones? What category did they fall in?

"Rosalie and Esme went to Seattle?" I asked Carlisle.

"They did, son."

I nodded, and pulled the cell phone out of my shirt's pocket. I dialed Rosalie's number, and at the first ring she answered.

"What is it, Edward?"

I chuckled when I heard her concern, though it shouldn't have been any funny.

"Nothing bad, Rose," I assured her, and I listened to her sigh of relief. "Carlisle told me that you were in Seattle doing some shops."

"Yes, we are," Rosalie agreed. "Why?"

"I want to ask you for a favor," I told her.

I didn't thing, for what Bella had said and didn't say, that she would have thought of Charlie for Christmas.

"Tell me," Rosalie answered.

"I think Bella didn't shop anything to give Charlie for Christmas..."

"What do you want me to get?"

"Go to the best store-"

Rose interrupted me. "Do you think I would go to some second-hand store?" her voice with a tone of petulance.

I laughed, and shook my head. "No, of course not. Get the best fishing system they have available."

"Sure," Rosalie told me. "I'll call you back later to let you know what I got, eh?"

"Perfect. Thank you, Rose."

"Mhmm," she whispered, and then hung up.

Bella had told me that she didn't want to spend the Christmas Eve night on Charlie's. She shuddered with just thinking about the _joy_ she would have to pretend feeling if we were with him. She didn't feel like keeping such façade. I agreed with her, and we agreed on calling Charlie until the next morning.

While I was waiting for Rosalie to call back, I looked around, and imagined the way Alice would have fixed up the house, still the with tension of waiting for the Volturi, for Renesmee.

I sighed.

But Alice wasn't here, and would never be again.

The cell phone started vibrating on my pocket, and I took it to see who was it. Though I didn't need to.

"Rosalie."

"Eh, we found a good fishing system, the shopkeeper said it was the newest and most modern at the market, it's a sonar system."

"Fine. Get it."

"Well... mm, the thing is they don't have any more available. If you want one, it will arrive until tomorrow if we ordered it with overnight priority. He insisted I called the person _who's_ buying it to confirm to me. According to the priority I ordered it with, it's _much_ more expensive," I could imagine the person who was attending Rosalie, and that was why she was emphasizing those words.

I laughed. "But it, Rose. You know..."

"I know, the _kid_ insisted."

"Of course he did."

"Is that it, then?"

"For Charlie, yes. I was thinking on something for Renesmee."

"Oh, of course. What do I look for?"

Then I remembered which had been Bella's favorite gift.

"_It's beautiful, Edward,"_ I heard Bella's voice once again in my memory. _"You couldn't have given me anything I would love more. I can't believe it."_

"Can you get one of those MP3 players?" I asked her. "Nessie loves music."

"Just like his father does," Rosalie whispered softly.

"Well, yes..."

"I can," Rosalie answered me. "Don't worry. I'll see you later."

"Alright."

Rosalie and Esme came back in the middle of the afternoon with things some ones asked her for, and the presents I had asked her. She confirmed t me that Charlie's present should arrive tomorrow, forcefully. Or that's what they'd told her at the store.

After it had been an hour after Rosalie and Esme had come back, Bella decided it was already time to practice with her shield, despite Emmett's internal complaints.

She was getting better, it was really a huge improvement. She could shield to several feet away, and for several minutes. Kate didn't doubt that soon she would be able to project it to the distance she wished or at least, where we the twenty eight vampires who were witnesses were safe. Little by little she could keep her shield for a while longer, so everyone was very satisfied with her practices. While the time kept passing, more friends gathered round to see Bella practicing.

Next day, Christmas Eve, we came back to the house during the day, too. While Bella practiced _again_ with Emmett, and Renesmee was with Zafrina this time, I took the chance to put my favorite songs, and Renesmee's, too, on her new MP3 player.

Bella had printed a small picture of the three of us, to put it on the locker she had bought her.

Bella called Charlie – like she had told me – to let her father know that we wouldn't go and visit him until the next day, Christmas. He didn't like the idea very much, but accepted it. The Holidays were to a not very appropriate hour for Renesmee. She would be asleep by the time of the celebration, that's what we told him, and we promised we would take her next day.

So we spent the Christmas Eve with Carlisle and Esme, and Rosalie and Emmett, and Jacob – obviously – at our cottage. Everyone else, who didn't celebrate this Holiday, stayed in the main house.

The _Christmas Dinner_ was only made for Jacob, being the only one who ate.

Renesmee, though Jacob asked her for, refused to try the human food he was eating from. It was as disgusting to her, as it was to us.

We all laughed a little but when she refused, and the beautiful grimaces she made when Jacob to _tease_ her, he said, got some close to her. The two of them fell asleep early and near to the window. And everyone else, we just stayed talking for a while around the chimney.

Later they all left, Jacob with them, since he had woken up when we moved Renesmee to take her to rest on her crib.

The day was getting closer, the end…

I had not wanted to even think about that. But considering the day in which we were, what we had just celebrated, the first and _only_ Christmas with our daughter, like a family. If we didn't triumphed, it would be the end of our family, of my angels. I only begged, almost implored, for Bella to be right. I didn't care if my sins sent me to a completely different place than Bella, as long as she reached heaven.

But at the same time, I knew that Bella wouldn't be happy. She herself had made it known to me so many times.

"_You can't make me go to a place where you won't be,"_ Bella had told me, and I was sure that the same words would come out of her if the subject was brought up.

There wouldn't be a 'goodbye' for us, I hoped so, and we were together even if it were in ashes.

At dawn, Bella and I waited for Renesmee to wake up besides her crib, watching her the entire time. We didn't want, more than ever before, miss one second of her life. Memorizing every line of her sweet face, every dimple when she smiled, every one of her hairs, her sweet eyes… she was simply an angel.

How could there be something more beautiful than her, even if it wasn't on earth? I couldn't imagine.

Bella had in her hand the small locker, none of us had bothered on wrapping her gifts.

I put my arms around her waist, and we kept waiting for a few more minutes.

Then, Renesmee started stretching her little arms, and yawning for the last time before finally opening her chocolate eyes.

"Happy Christmas, Renesmee," Bella whispered in her ear while she took her in her arms.

Renesmee grinned hugely, there was no doubt in her thoughts. Jacob had explained her already what this Holiday was about.

"Thank you, mommy," she told her, at the same time that Bella put the small locket on her.

"I love you," Bella whispered, opening up the locket to show Renesmee the inscription and the little photo of the three of us.

Through her mind passed the moment in which the photo had been taken.

"More than my own life," she finished, indicating her that that meant the little phrase.

Renesmee smiled again when she heard her.

Bella and I laughed when we saw the smile of Renesmee's face, and the musical laughter, the excitement by hearing what the player had in.

"Happy Christmas, Nessie," I whispered to her side, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "I love you."

It seemed like she couldn't stop smiling. "I love you, too, daddy, mommy," and she hugged us both. "Thank you."

I noticed that Bella was anxious while we were walking out of the house to go to Charlie's. Jacob and Renesmee were riding on the back seat of the Volvo. In her jacket pocket was the MP3 player I had given her, the two of them were listening to the melodies I had put in; she was wearing the locket, too. And a gift I had not anticipated, maybe even I should have, was on her left wrist a Quileute version of a promise ring. I couldn't help it, because though I was accepting it, it was still difficult to show myself one hundred percent agreed with those kinds of _commitments_ between my four-old-month daughter and Jacob Black. My teeth grinded together, but Bella on the opposite, seemed content or almost relieved of seeing that.

Rosalie had given me the gift for Charlie last night, and now it was riding on the Volvo's trunk.

When we arrived, Charlie's place was already full. Jacob's pack was there, plus Sam and Emily, and Sue. The food was on the table, and we three claimed we had already eaten before leaving towards here, so we didn't have to go through the uncomfortable moment. The little food, it could be said, for the number of werewolves that were there and the way they actually ate, it was soon over.

Bella and I gave to Charlie his gift, and he spent the whole morning reading the instructions manual.

"Wow. Thanks, you guys. You didn't have to give me anything," Charlie expressed.

We both smiled when his eyes almost seemed to bulge out of their places when he saw what it was. And I would have assured, that if for not being because there were visits, Charlie would've gone out at that same moment to try his new fishing system.

"You've got nothing to thank for, Charlie," I assured him.

"Yes, well. It must have been very expensive…"

I smiled again, and shrugged.

Bella turned to see me, and in her eyes there was an expression I recognized. Every time that I told her money was worth nothing to us. I knew she was remembering that same thing.

Or maybe I was wrong, I couldn't be sure.

Sam, at certain moment, spoke to me through his mind, to comment about some things of the next encounter. There wasn't much to be said, neither from us nor from them. They were ready, and kept getting ready. Like Jacob had said, they were willing to everything to help us, to help Renesmee and Jacob, would be more exact. I thanked him under my breath, just them and Bella heard.

We could've kept a conversation, and Charlie wouldn't even have known.

I wondered absent-mindedly, how Charlie would feel after all of this happened. Of course, he had no idea of anything, but…

How would he feel if suddenly we all disappeared without even a warning?

What would he do if in a few day he didn't know anything more about the Cullens, Bella and Renesmee ever again?

I didn't want to have any answer to those questions in this moment. Looking at Renesmee sitting on her grandpa's lap while he tried to understand how his new gift worked. Laughing while his forehead frowned in concentration and Renesmee pointed out of excitement. The way he hugged her with the love only a grandfather could give…

Bella stayed very quiet, her eye seemed to be half-unfocused, as if she didn't want to think about anything for the moment.

And I understood her.

If we considered that we only had a few days left to be face to face with the Volturi, this would be the last time she would see her father.

Charlie didn't notice any of this. Something good.

The wolves stayed behind when we said goodbye to Charlie, who walked us out to the car.

"Well," he said, looking down at the ground. He wasn't good with his _feelings_. "I'll see you soon. I'm glad you came."

Bella bit her lips, and tried to smile. "We are, dad," was everything she said. "We had a good time," her voice sounded convincing, but Charlie ignored that fact.

"Yes, it was."

_Oh, please…_ Jacob complained.

"Fine, Charlie. I'll see you around," Jacob said while he got on the back seat of the car.

Charlie, with Renesmee in his arms, kissed both her cheeks. "I hope you'd got a nice time, Nessie. I love you, kiddo," the last part was barely a whisper, but we all could hear it perfectly, including Renesmee, who smiled hugely at him, and stretched his arms wrapping them around his neck to hug him.

_I love you, too, __Grandpa Charlie,_ I heard her telling him.

"Goodbye, dad," Bella told him, taking Renesmee in her arms. Then she kissed him on the cheek and hugged him.

"Take care," Charlie mumbled, and then talked to me. "Take care of my girls, Edward."

"I always do," I told him smiling.

The three of us got in the car, rain was not very strong but enough to get you wet if you stayed too long under the mist; Renesmee fluttered her hand saying goodbye to Charlie until she could no longer see him, and then she focused on the locket Bella had given her, her eyes got lost on the woods surrounding us and the little photo of the three of us while she opened and closed it.

It was difficult for Jacob to feel tense, sad or even angry for what was happening some times. Like now. Seeing Renesmee so happy and out of the tense bubble in which we all else were. After all, the only thing he cared about, was seeing her happy.

But he also knew that that happiness could end if we didn't succeed on stopping the Volturi from their goal.

I stared at Bella for a few seconds, during she didn't feel my stare. Her eyes were fixated on Renesmee, but her expression was unusual. She seemed to be completely focused on something that I didn't have any way of knowing what it was. But there was trace of desolation in her features. And considering it was Renesmee she was looking at, I imagined that her attitude was because of the concern over Renesmee.

I heard the riot that there was at the house through his thoughts before even listening to their voices.

We were still by the roadway, a few miles away before getting to the dirt road that led to the main house.

I paid attention, searching for the reason for such riot.

"_We're leaving,"_ I listened to Amun hissing, his eyes first resting on Kebi, then on Tia and last on Benjamin, who was by Carlisle's side.

"_Amun, we had already spoken about this. I am not going anywhere,"_ Benjamin reminded him, his voice full of decision.

Amun snarled, his thoughts were directed at Carlisle in a not such friendly way.

Everyone was there. I could listen to the thoughts of everyone, except for… Alistair's.

Where was he?

We drove into the road, and I accelerated a bit. I was getting anxious. I was still not sure of what was happening.

Jacob and Renesmee noticed the change in the speed, but Bella didn't react. She seemed lost in thought.

_What is it?_ Jacob wondered.

We kept driving on, and driving into the lawn, I heard which was the reason of such riot.

Like I had heard, it was about Alistair. He had gone… to not come back.

Bella got tense when she heard a bit of the voices inside of the house. I parked in front of the house, the sooner we were inside the better. There was no need to get the car parked in the garage, for now.

Bella turned to see me at the same time that I turned to her before jumping out of the car. Her eyes were cautious.

_Edward,_ I heard Esme talking to me when we were out of the Volvo.

Jacob also got out of the car, and his expression changed immediately. If something'd happened, he had to know, and know how serious or important was, and if there was need to inform Sam about whatever was going on.

Before he got on alert for no reason, I whispered, "Alistair is gone," while we climbed up the porch stairs.

_Is it good or bad?_ Jacob wondered.

What was wrong with Amun? It was ridiculous what he was thinking.

Did he really think that Carlisle wanted to steal Benjamin away from his coven?

_Oh, Edward, son!_ Esme exclaimed when seeing us walking in.

_All this because of that… child._ I heard Amun thinking sulfurous when he saw Renesmee.

My jaw got tense when I heard him. Nobody had forced him to come, or to stay. He didn't have to blame my daughter of absolutely anything.

Carlisle and Benjamin were in front of Amun in the midst of the discussion. Everyone else were surrounding them.

"Amun, if you want to go, no one is forcing you to stay," Carlisle explained to Amun, relaxed, trying to calm Amun's rage down.

_Ha! Right, _I_ can go, that's what you want._

"You're stealing half my coven, Carlisle!" Amun complained while he pointed with a finger to Benjamin. Carlisle, just like everyone else, was almost feeling indignant that Amun believed that that was what he was doing with his coven.

_Please,_ Benjamin whined when he heard him.

"Is that why you called me here?" Amun continued. "To steal from me?"

_To that, right. What are you thinking, Amun?_ Benjamin was thinking.

Carlisle sighed. _How do I explain to him?_

Benjamin rolled his eyes, and spoke to Amun. "Yes, Carlisle picked a fight with the Volturi, endangered his whole family, just to lure me here to my death," Benjamin whispered, his voice was obviously sarcastic.

_Is he mocking me?_ Amun thought, enraged.

"Be reasonable, Amun," Benjamin went on. "I'm committed to do the right thing here – I'm not joining any other coven. You can do whatever you want, of course, as Carlisle has pointed out."

_I hope he understand, at last…_ I heard Esme, half-desperate. She only wanted this to be over already.

Amun, on the other side, was still desperate but for another very different reason. His thoughts went to what Alistair had done.

_That's the best we have left to do._

"This won't end well," he growled, considering the idea of leaving, too. But he didn't want to without Benjamin. "Alistair was the only sane here. We should all be running."

He remembered, then, that he could run, but if the Volturi wanted to, they could find him easily.

"Think of who you're calling sane," Tia whispered almost under her breath, but most of the presents here, agreed with her.

"We're all going to be slaughtered!" Amun exclaimed, and I almost wished to be able to shut his mouth up.

By my side, though she didn't shudder or had any physical reaction in her, Renesmee, I could see the fear growing inside of her, her mind was flooded with the faces of the ones she loved and now – almost for sure – thought she was going to lose like Amun was saying. Bella's and my face were telling her we loved her this morning crossed her mind, Jacob's face, her two grandpa's and Esme's, her uncles' and aunts', the ones who had grown to be friends of her in these days. Zafrina, Carmen, Kate, Benjamin, Eleazar, Tanya…

_That's not going to happen, there's no reason for such thing,_ Carlisle thought.

And then he put it into words. "It's not going to come to a fight," his voice was decisive, no trace of doubt.

"You say!"

Everyone was getting desperate with Amun's attitude.

_He's so stubborn,_ Benjamin thought.

"If it does, you can always switch sides, Amun," Carlisle said.

_What? What does he mean?_

And that was exactly the reason why Alistair had gone away. I had been seeing it for the past few days in his mind. The way he regretted that he were going to be forced to fight against Carlisle if that was enough to save his life in front of the Volturi. He preferred to leave, than doing that.

"I'm sure the Volturi will appreciate your help," Carlisle finished saying to him, clearing up his doubt.

_It's not a bad idea,_ Amun was thinking while he smiled to him in a scornful way. "Perhaps that is the answer."

"I wouldn't hold that against you, Amun," the sincerity in my father's words rang sound and clear. "We have been friends for a long time, but I would never ask you to die for me."

_Yes, right, I know,_ Amun accepted to himself. "But you're taking my Benjamin down with you."

_Oh, friend._ Carlisle was thinking while he placed a hand on Amun's shoulder, a friendly gesture, which Amun quickly rejected.

_Everyone knows what you want, Carlisle. There's no reason to be giving faked affection demonstrations to convince me._

"I'll stay, Carlisle," Amun said. "but it might be to your detriment. I will join them if that's the road to survival. You're all fools to think that you can defy the Volturi," he frowned, and sighed. Then, if having been able to, I would've gotten between his glare and Bella and Renesmee. He looked at them with rage, and then he said. "I will witness that the child has grown. That's nothing but the truth. Anyone would see that."

"That's all we've ever asked," Carlisle assured him again.

_But that's not everything some of us wants to give,_ I heard Tanya, this time, think.

The Romanians seemed to agree with Tanya, _let's hope this gets to more than a show of witnesses._

"But not all that you're getting, it seems," Amun mumbled, making a grimace. Then he turned towards Benjamin. "I gave you life. You're wasting it."

_Like it was the first time I hear that. You are not going to use me,_ it was the first time that I heard Benjamin being so cold. "It's a pity you couldn't replace my will with your own in the process; perhaps then you would have been satisfied with me."

_If I would've been able to, I would've done it,_ Amun thought, his eyes narrowing while he considered how different and satisfying it would've been if that were possible. And remembering it couldn't. More upset than before, he turned to see Kebi and gestured to her to follow him out. Kebi immediately was at his side and together they walked out of the house.

Bella turned to see me, her eyes full of questions.

"He's not leaving," I explained to Bella, sure that that was what she wanted to know. "but he'll be keeping his distance even more from now on. He wasn't bluffing when he spoke of joining the Volturi."

Anyone doubted that what was I telling was the truth. And I could see, thanks to Maggie, that what Amun had said, it had indeed been true.

"Why did Alistair go?" Bella asked.

Everyone, too, were interested on the answer to that question.

Renesmee, among us, was anxious to hear what I had to say to that.

"No one can be positive; he didn't leave a note," I said. "From his mutters, it's been clear that he thinks a fight is inevitable. Despite his demeanor, he actually does care too much for Carlisle to stand with the Volturi. I suppose he decided the danger was too much," I wasn't completely sure of this being the reason why he left, so I shrugged.

On the other side, Carlisle seemed relieved from hearing my words.

_It's not that… only, there was something more, Edward. I'm sure._ Eleazar thought.

Everyone agreed with me, they had a new way of thinking about Alistair.

"From the sound of his mumblings, it was a bit more than that," Eleazar said, explaining his point. "We haven't spoken much of the Volturi agenda, but Alistair worried that no matter how decisively we can prove your innocence, the Volturi will not listen. He thinks they will find an excuse to achieve their goals here."

_And being honest, Edward,_ Eleazar spoke to me, _it's the same thing we had, isn't it?_

Everybody reacted to Eleazar's words. It had never been spoken about this part about the Volturi in front of everyone, like right now, and anyone liked to think that was what they actually wanted.

They turned to see each others, their faces didn't show being upset.

_Without achieving their goals?_

_They want more than punishing? But, why?_

_What was Eleazar talking about?_

_What is this?_

And my family, _so Alice was right?_

_They wanted her! That's why she left us._

_Oh Alice! But, Edward and Bella? Renesmee!_

The Romanians were the only ones who didn't care at all about what Eleazar had just said, they rather liked that there was that theory, and so everyone else would finally see, that the Volturi were taking advantage of their power among the vampires.

The chats started to be listened all over the house, everyone was talking about what Eleazar had said about the Volturi.

"If Eleazar is right, this will be much harder, and our witnesses won't be of much help. At least they have our help," I heard Benjamin whispering to Tia and Mary.

"That's true. Whatever it is we can do, will be good."

Peter and Charlotte were arguing about the same possibility. Peter didn't know if he should _fight_ on our side, considering that his brother, Jasper, was not here. Perhaps if he had been, Peter wouldn't have hesitated on showing his help to our family.

"It'll be very difficult for the Cullens to win if there's a confrontation against the Volturi, Charlotte," Peter was telling her, almost scared. "I don't know if we should help them, when the time comes."

Charlotte nodded, but her thoughts were having anther idea.

The Irish coven had the same problem that Peter and Charlotte had. Ones were sure of what they should do, and others weren't.

But what caught my attention, of course, was that of the Romanians. Just like Bella, for what I was seeing, her eyes were focused on them. It would have been difficult, considering that Vladimir was looking and staring at Bella between words.

I didn't like it, but I paid attention. Ignoring everyone else for a moment.

Stefan was whispering to Vladimir. "I do so hope Alistair was right about this."

_If it were for them, war would already be declared…_ Carlisle thought, a little bit disappointed.

"No matter the outcome, word will spread. It's time our world saw the Volturi for what they've become. They'll never fall if everyone believes this nonsense about them protecting our way of life."

"At least when we ruled, we were honest about what we were," Vladimir continued. Just for everyone to hear them.

Stefan answered, and continued speaking after nodding. "We never put on white hats and called ourselves saints."

"I'm thinking the time has come to fight," Vladimir said.

_Fight? It's a possibility, but that being the _plan_… no._

_Are they crazy?_

The Irish coven and Peter and Charlotte were now listening more intently, also to the Romanians.

"How can you imagine" Vladimir kept talking. Everyone else were surprised. "we'll ever find a better force to stand with? Another chance this good?"

"Nothing is impossible. Maybe someday—"

Vladimir interrupted Stefan. "We've been waiting for fifteen hundred years, Stefan. And they've only gotten stronger with the years."

Eleazar and Carmen, Tanya and Kate had put their attentions on the Romanians again.

_What are they telling? Come on!_

Their eyes returned to Bella, and both considered how strong would they turn with just _getting_ Bella.

_No one could damage them if they got to have that newborn with them…_

That was the part I wasn't liking, but I couldn't say anything.

_Not even that witch of Jane with her._

Their thought quickly go to Benjamin, and they were thinking the same thing of him than of Bella.

I was happy Alice wasn't here, right _this_ moment.

"If the Volturi win this conflict," Vladimir continued. "they will leave with more power than they came with. With every conquest they add to their strengths. Think of what that newborn alone could give them" his chin pointed out to Bella, so they knew who they meant. Though it wasn't necessary. "and she is barely discovering her gifts. And the earth-mover." He stopped, and nodded towards Benjamin.

_No, I will not be forced by the Volturi…_ Benjamin was thinking, while he got tense by considering such idea.

"With their witch twins they have no need of the illusionist or the fire touch," Vladimir finished saying, his eyes moving from Zafrina to Kate at last.

_Well, that is a _relief_._ Kate thought, a bit upset. _Who would want to join them!_

Stefan turned to see me, then. Remembering that there was someone else who had a gift in this room. I glared at him frowning. "Nor is the mind reader is exactly necessary. But I see your point. Indeed, they will gain much if they win."

"More than we can afford to have them gain, wouldn't you agree?" Vladimir asked.

Stefan sighed, thinking very well on what Vladimir had told him, and agreeing with him, almost as always. "I think I must agree. And that means... "

"That we must stand against them while there is still hope."

"If we can just cripple them, even, expose them..."

"Then, someday, others will finish the job," Vladimir said.

_Since this group doesn't want to do it, others will do it._

"And our long vendetta will be repaid. At last."

_I don't see what other way it could be, we might die trying, but…_

_Revenge is sweet. I rather die trying._

The Romanians looked at each other for a moment. Musing.

Everyone who was present, listening to what Stefan and Vladimir were saying, believed now more than ever, that a fight could be impossible to avoid.

Only my family kept wishing, fervently, that it wasn't that way.

"It seems the only way," the Romanians mumbled together.

"So we fight," Stefan announced.

The two smiled, as if the fight was already won.

"We fight," Vladmir exclaimed, agreeing with Stefan.

Carlisle shook his head when hearing them, still thinking that this wouldn't not turn into a fight. But they weren't the only ones who seemed to believe for sure, that the fight would be unavoidable. Everyone were starting to consider their place in such situation.

Cullens or Volturi.

And, of course, there wasn't anyone in this room who wanted to be part of the Volturi guard.

I felt Bella shuddering by my side, but I couldn't turn to see her.

Tia was decided all of a sudden. More than before, and she made it known, too. "We will fight, too," she said, thinking of Benjamin. She didn't have to ask for his opinion before speaking, she already knew what his position was. It wasn't the first time they considered such thing. "We believe the Volturi will overstep their authority. We have no wish to belong to them."

_Much less taking my Benjamin,_ Tia was thinking while looking at him.

And Benjamin, he understood perfectly well what she meant. He smiled at her, and said with a look to the Romanians. "Apparently, I'm a hot commodity. It appears I have to win the right to be free."

I knew that this would happen when the Romanians declared themselves.

Garrett was the next one. "This won't be the first time I've fought to keep myself from a king's rule," he then walked over towards Benjamin and patted his back.

_And it won't be the last,_ "Here's to freedom from oppression."

Tanya spoke to me before speaking out loud.

_You already know what our place in this is, Edward._ Then she smiled.

"We stand with Carlisle," Tanya said, turning around to make her decision very clear in her head. Eleazar and Carmen, and Kate agreed with her, of course.. "And we fight with him."

_Good!_ I heard Emmett, excited. _There would be fight before falling._

Peter spoke, then. "We have not decided."

He looked at Charlotte by his side, looking at her expression when having spoken for both, when he knew that her opinion was opposite to his. Charlotte would fight if it was necessary. But she didn't say anything.

She only would do it.

"The same goes for me," Randall decided after a few seconds of consideration.

"And me," Mary said right after Randall. The two of them had considered this decision since they had arrived, and now it was more than decided.

_Well, if the vampires declared themselves, they better know our position…_ Jacob thought, his thoughts directed to the ones who weren't sure.

"The packs will fight with the Cullens. We're not afraid of vampires," he smiled smugly.

"Children," Peter said, his mind, anyway, upset for what Jacob had said.

"Infants," Randall corrected, according to him.

_Oh, what are you afraid of the bloodsuckers?_ Jacob thought, while he smiled at them, teasing them.

_No, I do not want this to come to a fight,_ Carlisle complained in his mind.

"Well, I'm in, too."

_Even if you don't want¸ _Maggie thought while she moved from under Siobhan's hand.

Siobhan, as much as Carlisle, didn't want this to come to a fight.

"I know truth is on Carlisle's side. I can't ignore that," Maggie finished saying, her words were directed to everyone, but mostly to Siobhan.

"Carlisle," Siobhan whispered, her eyes were looking at Maggie anxiously. Worried about losing one of her members in this _suicidal_ mission as Tanya once called this. "I

don't want this to come to a fight."

"Nor do I, Siobhan," Carlisle said.

_Oh, Carlisle,_ I heard Esme.

"You know that's the last thing I want." He half-smiled, and continued. "Perhaps you should concentrate on keeping it peaceful."

"You know that won't help."

Curious. Either she didn't really believe so, or she was right and it wasn't a talent. Maggie only saw what she meant.

"It couldn't hurt," Carlisle insisted.

_So stubborn,_ Siobhan thought, rolling her eyes. "Shall I visualize the outcome I desire?" her tone was clearly sarcastic.

Carlisle grinned openly at her, and told her. "If you don't mind."

"Then there is no need for my coven to declare itself, is there? Since there is no possibility of a fight," Siobhan said, and then she placed her hand on Maggie's should to get her closer again.

Anyone else had anything to say, and though they waited for someone to explain what it meant what Carlisle and Siobhan had been talking about, no one did. The group spread away again to what they had been doing before any of this riot started. A lot of them had gone hunting, and other ones were back to some things from the house and Carlisle had to offer.

Carlisle, some others and I had already talked about this. We would all be going hunting again in a few days, calculating when it would be approximately the day in which the Volturi would arrive so we were better prepared. Then we would stay a couple of nights out, at the baseball meadow and so we would keep our guard away from town and all people. Demetri would track down Bella, for sure, but when he realized he couldn't, he would surely track down me or Carlisle. We had decided that Bella would not shield us until they were close to us and they were sure, too, that it was us and we hadn't tried to run away. If she shielded us before, how would they find us?

There were only a few days left for the deadline to arrive, but Bella decided we went hunting after all.

The three of us, with Jacob by our side, of course.

"Stupid leeches," Jacob mumbled, complaining about what the vampires had said about the packs. "Think they're so superior," snort.

_No talking about you guys, Edward…_ Jacob added.

"They'll be shocked when the infants save their superior lives, won't they?" I asked him.

"Hell yeah, they will," he answered me with a smile and a punch on my shoulder. Light…

We went away for a few miles inside the forest near by our cottage. Jacob and Renesmee got apart for a few meters while Bella and I finished with our preys.

As it was usual, Jacob got apart with her to make those hunting trips, a challenge.

_The biggest one? Which one?_ I heard Renesmee while she saw between the trees to see which one was the biggest. Jacob by her side, also was doing it, but at this moment, to not catch it and let it to Renesmee. All because she got happy by winning.

I shook my head, and smiled.

Then I turned to see Bella, she was drinking, but there was something in her expression. She didn't seem concentrated on the half-dead animal in her hands…

The deer fell off her hands, then. My forehead wrinkled, what was it with her?

She looked at her hand full of blood, and I was instantly at her side, leaving the deer I was drinking from.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, anxious. I looked around us, perhaps she'd listened to something I hadn't. Doubtful, but better prevent than regret.

"Renesmee." Bella said, her voice seemed to be choking.

But Renesmee was completely fine, she was safe a few meters from us.

And I didn't hear anything out of place.

"She's just through those trees," I reassured her, with no idea of why she was worried. "I can hear both her thoughts and Jacob's. She's fine."

"That's not what I meant," Bella whispered, her voice still sounding strange. "I was thinking about my shield—you really think it's worth something, that it will help somehow," so that's what it was about, but I still didn't understand what was worrying her; Bella kept talking. "I know the others are hoping that I'll be able to shield Zafrina and Benjamin, even if I can only keep it up for a few seconds at a time," her voice started to get louder, even when she kept it low. Renesmee and Jacob had no idea of what was happening. "What if that's a mistake? What if your trust in me is the reason that we fail?"

"Bella, what brought this on?" I asked her. I didn't want her to worry over such a thing. "Of course, it's wonderful that you can protect yourself, but you're not responsible for saving anyone. Don't distress yourself needlessly."

"But what if I can't protect anything?" her voice was now gasping. "This thing I do, it's faulty, it's erratic! There's no rhyme or reason to it. Maybe it will do nothing against Alec at all."

"Shh," I mumbled, I didn't like seeing her that way. I had to calm her down somehow. "Don't panic. And don't worry about Alec. What he does is no different than what Jane or Zafrina does. It's just an illusion—he can't get inside your head any more than I can."

"But Renesmee does!" Bella hissed, her voice again, anxious.

This was the reason, now I understood. Oh, my Bella, if she knew that I had already though about this.

How long have she been worrying for such thing?

"It seemed so natural, I never questioned it before," Bella continued. "It's always been just part of who she is. But she puts her thoughts right into my head just like she does with everyone else. My shield has holes, Edward!"

How did I explain to her? It didn't matter, I had to do it. I couldn't allow her to be worrying that way when there was no need.

Her eyes showed no more than despair while she waited for me to tell her anything.

Understanding crossed her eyes. "You thought of this a long time ago, didn't you?"

I nodded. She was still as observer as always, after all. A smile wanted to show in my lips. "The first time she touched you."

Bella sighed, but she seemed more calmed. "And that doesn't bother you? You don't see it as a problem?"

"I have two theories, one more likely than the other."

"Give me the least likely first."

Always so pessimistic. But I did it. "Well, she's your daughter. Genetically half you. I used to tease you about how your mind was on a different frequency than the rest of ours. Perhaps she runs on the same."

"But you hear her mind just fine. Everyone hears her mind. And what if Alec runs on a different frequency? What if—?"

Again with the hysterics, I quickly place a finger over her lips, stopping her flood of words. "I've considered that. Which is why I think this next theory is much more

likely."

I heard Bella grinding her teeth together.

"Do you remember what Carlisle said to me about her, right after she showed you that first memory?"

"He said, 'It's an interesting twist. Like she's doing the exact opposite of what you can.'"

"Yes. And so I wondered. Maybe she took your talent and flipped it, too."

Bella didn't say anything, and I knew that she was thinking on what I had told her.

"You keep everyone out."

"And no one keeps her out?" Bella said, still hesitating.

"That's my theory," but there was no way of knowing if it was really like that. "And if she can get into your head, I doubt there's a shield on the planet who could keep her at bay. That will help. From what we've seen, no one can doubt the truth of her thoughts once they've allowed her to show them. And I think no one can keep her from showing them, if she gets close enough. If Aro allows her to explain..."

I stopped when I saw Bella shuddering.

Yes, it was an idea a little bit disturbing. If it wasn't necessary, I would try to keep her the most possible farther away from any of the Volturi.

"Well," I whispered, caressing her shoulders. There was nothing to be worried about. Because if Aro came close enough, I wouldn't allow him to hurt her. "At least there's nothing that can stop him from seeing the truth."

"But is the truth enough to stop him?"

I didn't have an answer for that, and I didn't say anything.

Because if the truth wasn't enough, we would take care of forcing them to stop.

I didn't want my daughter's life to end, neither now or ever.

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**So? Did you like it? Hope you did! Thanks, again!**


	36. Chapter 35 DEADLINE

**Hi!**

**I'm finally back. And I finally finished translating this chapter. I was desperate to get it done :) But I did it!**

**Thanks so much for your reviews, I thought we may reach the 200 hundreds reviews last time, but we didn't, hope now we do, I'm sure we will, though!**

**I don't have any excuses, but the same one as always. School, homework, exams, stuff like that again, not having enough time to write this chapter... but, you also know I'm not leaving it unfinished! So don't worry about that.**

**I hope, now, you enjoy this chapter.**

**And the VOLTURI finally arrived!**

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**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

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CHAPTER 35. Deadline

The subject of her shield and Renesmee wasn't talked about again among us. Bella understood what was my theory, and after several hours, she seemed to accept it. Her look and her body relaxed slightly. She couldn't be more relaxed, there were still a lot of other things to be worried about, than just her shield not working against Alec or Demetri. Carlisle and my family, even Eleazar, we all absolutely believed that her shield worked perfectly well against both, and very likely, against every member of the guard that Bella would have to fear. Even Renata.

The hours advanced very slowly up to one point, but at the end of a while, the day was over already, and the night extended over us.

I had been watching Bella a little more attentive than usual on the last days, since her strange behavior before Christmas. There wasn't much it gave me some hints, some clues, besides I was trying to not find out what it was about. I convinced myself telling me, that it shouldn't be any big deal, and for that reason, Bella had not told me anything yet.

The Volvo hadn't been used by anyone the next days, until I myself took it to drive to Charlie's on Christmas. And, of course, I had noticed that the odometer marked a lot more miles than the ones it would've reached if it would've only driven around some Forks' streets, even if it would've driven around all Forks' streets, it would never have reached that number. But, again it didn't mean Bella was lying to me. It wasn't like she had told where she did she shopping, either; she could easily have driven to Seattle or Olympia.

Neither I nor she commented any more about the matter, and I tried to let it out of my mind.

Days passed by quietly. Benjamin became much better that what he expected with his gift as the time passed in our background. Bella, too, finally managed to keep her shield all the time she wanted on all us. That cheered everyone up a lot, and made hope to rise that the plan were going to work out well, as we wished.

_You can do it, Bella. Come on!_ Kate was begging for her to pull it off before it happened.

Zafrina had had all the vampires present blind, waiting for Bella to be able to shield every one of us.

Her images had not been _terrifying_, she had had in consideration that Renesmee was also with us, and any strong image could cause her a fear that none of us, much less Bella and I, wanted our daughter to suffer.

And without expecting it, Bella did it.

Kate had exploded with excitement that afternoon when Bella had managed to project her shield with magnitude.

The army had been the same that the first time. Zafrina had left every present vampire blind on the little meadow behind the house.

Bit by bit, and it seemed, without so much effort like other times, Bella eventually shielded everyone.

Tanya raised her hand, _incredible, she did it…_

Almost immediately Carmen's hand was in the air, _Oh, fantastic. She finally managed to control her shield._

Eleazar was next, though he had almost expected her to fail like so many other times. And like Tanya and Carmen, he was excited when seeing he was under Bella's shield.

_I don't know what Jane and Alex are going to do if they are the blind ones in this confrontation._ Eleazar was thinking, distracted for a moment, his hand raised. _Aro will be impressed of seeing what Bella can do against his best offenses…_

Senna raised her hand, and she was more impressed by the fact that someone could prevent Zafrina from leaving them without their sight.

_Her shield must be very strong,_ she was thinking, raising her hand, too.

Maggie raised her hand, then, followed by Siobhan and Liam.

_Wonderful, we're under her shield, I can see everything again._

_This will only get them furious, finding themselves at disadvantage. Though it's sure they will._

Carlisle and Esme raised their hands.

_Son, she made it! Bella made it…_

_Oh, darling. She's more special than we thought._

Rosalie and Emmett followed them next, their hands raised towards the sky, and Emmett had a huge smile on his face.

_Great, who are gonna be running now?_

_It took her a while, but she did it,_ Rosalie was thinking, but there was no sourness in her tone.

Mary, Randall, and Peter and Charlotte were the last one on getting their sight back after our family. The four of them were so impressed for what was happening, that their thoughts were barely coherent.

_It's the end of the Volturi._

_We'll finish them off if we had the chance._

The Romanians were thinking, of course. They only had one goal, and a wish in mind. The overthrown of the Volturi.

Amun and Kebi, who were the ones more away from the group, also raised their hands.

_Like we seeing better, make it better…_ Amun thought.

Kebi was as silent on the outside as she was on the inside. The excitement from half the members of Irish coven was completely different to the one from the other members, Benjamin and Tia.

Jacob and the pack, were also excited with such success. This, was of great help, and we knew that.

"Yes! Bella, you did it," Kate exclaimed, when we saw how her shield reached to the last vampires on the garden. Their hands in the air when they got their sight sense back.

Bella didn't feel exhausted, on the contrary, a smile spread across her face, and she sighed with relief.

"Well done, love!" I whispered and hugged her. While I delicately kissed the skin of her neck.

And then her shield fell. "Oops, I guess I have to be sort of focused."

Everyone laughed, and we listened to Renesmee clap and her musical laughter resounding all over the garden.

_Mommy, did it, she made it…_

"Don't worry, Bella. When the day comes, Edward won't have any reason to hug you or not let you concentrate. Everything will be fine," Kate assured her with a smile.

"I think that only a bit more of practice will be necessary," Bella said, taking my hand.

_Of course it will._

Zafrina spoke then. "Did you notice how far you got?"

Anyone had thought about that with the excitement of the moment, that Bella had finally being able to shield everyone at her reach.

We both shook our heads, and I asked her. "How much was it?"

"It was approximately fifty meters. It's surprising, if you ask me," Zafrina answered.

"That is so much more than what Renata is capable of projecting," Eleazar commented, surprised, too.

"Let's see how long you can project, Bella," Zafrina said. "Let me out of your shield."

Bella nodded, serious, and then asked Zafrina to use her gift. She didn't leave us blinded for the first time, we all saw what we should, while Zafrina tried to left us blind. In the meantime, Eleazar, Zafrina, Kate and even Carlisle were counting the time Bella kept shielding. The time was passing by, and signs of stress or _tiredness_ in Bella's face were nowhere to be seen, only a fierce concentration.

Ten minutes passed, and Bella was still shielding without difficulty.

Fifteen minutes, and we were still shielded.

Twenty minutes.

The excitement was growing with each passing minute.

Twenty five minutes.

How long could take to the Volturi to accept Renesmee wasn't an immortal child, that they had nothing to do here, and it was better to leave in peace?

Thirty minutes

Thirty five minutes.

_I think is enough for now, isn't it?_

After forty minutes, Carlisle and Eleazar agreed on the fact that Bella could keep her shield during the time she wanted to.

_What's going to happen when Jane or Alec attack?_ Eleazar wondered al of a sudden.

"We won't know until the moments comes," I answered his thought. All heads turned around towards me when they heard me answering to a question no one else had listened to.

Eleazar nodded. "Surely we will, Edward."

"What's wrong, Edward?" Bella asked me.

"Nothing. Eleazar was only wondering what's going to happen when Jane or Alec tried to attack you. If your shield would resist the same time or so," I told her, my forehead wrinkled.

Her eyes filled with fear for a second. "Do you think it will resist?"

"Of course it will, love. Don't worry. I don't think their attacks are able to damage your shield," I told her.

She didn't look very convinced, but at the end she nodded again.

After that, everyone took off.

Renesmee, still on Bella's back as it was usual for her to be in these practices, slid off her back until she fell on the ground, and then she turned to me. I took her in my arms and smiled at her, waiting for her to show me the image I had already seen in her mind.

_Yes, Daddy?_ Renesmee asked me, her voice was half-begging for a positive answer.

"What does she want?" Bella asked me, her eyes on Renesmee who was still looking at me, waiting for the answer to her request.

"She wants us to take her to our meadow," I explained to her, and then turned to see Jacob. "and she wants Jake to come with us."

Bella thought about it for a second.

_Me?_ I heard Jacob thinking, while Bella considered what I had just told her.

"Please, Daddy? Mommy?" Renesmee whispered.

I didn't know Bella, but I was incapable of denying something to Renesmee.

But it seemed like Bella too. "It's fine by me."

I sighed, Renesmee was already smiling. "It's fine by me, too."

Bella only requested we came back to our cottage for a moment, so she would change Renesmee into new clothes. The ones she was wearing weren't the most convenient to spend the day on the forest.

Jacob had only been once in this place, and it wasn't a long time ago. I had to hold back the feeling I had of growling when I saw in his mind the only memory he had from this place. Laurent a few feet of distance away from Bella, the pack in front of him and Bella while they prepared to attack him. The gasp that came out of Bella's lips when she realized what she had in front of her, the way Jacob turned around to see her when he heard her, and then she disappeared from his mind when sprinting off after Laurent…

Yes, he hadn't hurt her. But he had been _so_ close.

Renesmee and Jacob were playing around as if they were _both_ little children. We, Bella and I were watching them from the other edge of the meadow. Bella was by my side, her arms wrapped around me just like mine were around her. The smile on our faces hardly disappeared. It was impossible to resist to Renesmee's voice, to her laughter making echo on the forest.

We spent the entire afternoon on the meadow. After all, like Bella had said, she had already managed on projecting her shield, a few hours without practicing wouldn't harm.

At the end, Renesmee reluctantly accepted we came back.

She didn't show it, but she perfectly knew what was happening. And she had a feeling that this might be the last time she saw the beautiful meadow extending in front of us.

With a last look and a sigh to her back, the four of us sprinted off back to our home.

I dedicated to watch Bella much more intently than before. Not only because I saw her acting a bit strange. My days, my hours with her were coming to an ending. And I feared missing one single second by her side. It seemed like I was getting back to those days when I did nothing else than to watch her, whether it was through my own eyes or through someone else's. I remembered how my favorite subject, had not been Biology nor Spanish, or anything alike, her, my Bella had been my favorite subject. There was nothing else I wanted to study, watch and learn about her. Memorize her face, her words, without even trying. I spent the day with her and Renesmee.

My both angels.

I tried to not think that I will soon lose them, I still tried to keep myself optimistic about what we would be faced against in less than a few days time. But it was difficult. It wasn't on my nature to be optimistic, to have hope on the things that happened to me, ended up well.

But…

Didn't I think the same way, when I met Bella, when I knew I _loved_ her?

I never believed Bella were going to feel the same way about me, nor she would be with me the way I had her now. I had always feared the moment in which she found out about the truth of my self, and my family. And everything had gone out well.

Hadn't I feared, too, that Bella wouldn't forgive me after that fateful mistake I made of leaving her?

And her arms had welcomed me back open wide, without doubt in her answer. Even when she had doubted my love, her love had been intact yet, and that had allowed her to welcome me back again. Allow us both to heal those painful wounds I myself had inflicted on us both due to my stupidity.

Didn't I believe that Bella would never accept to be my wife, that I would never be able to love her without ending up killing her?

Now I listened to her soft words when she had accepted me in front of the altar, I remembered our first night together, and she told me again how much she loved me, how much I loved her.

Everything in my life had been doubts and despairs, and at the end, somehow, it all ended up well.

Then, what was wrong with me having hope of everything to turn out well?

That my Renesmee and my Bella would go out of this alive and victorious from such situation. That they both would still be with me for eternity. That they both would still be living and breathing in this world. That they both wouldn't have to fear being rejected when they left this life towards the other one…

Even when I would do anything for them to not have to go through that experience.

So I was watching Bella. Every step she took, every blink that escaped away from her control, every sigh that I heard leaving her lips, every look she spare to the outside and the hands of the clock.

Everything, it told me only _one_ thing: she was waiting for something.

Because every step, every blink, every sigh, and every look had the same tinge of anxiety.

I didn't have any way of knowing what was it she was waiting to get to her, or she go for it, and something told me, very deeply, that I shouldn't ask, that I let her. And so I did, for as hard as it was for me. If Bella had something to tell me, she would, she didn't have to wait for me to ask her. That I repeated to myself every day, more times than necessary, but I managed to keep my curiosity beside.

The atmosphere inside and outside of the house changed while the day got closer, even when the date wasn't known. The weather was our clock.

The anxiety was growing, making it difficult to believe that Bella were anxious for a different reason than the rest of us. But there was something in her eyes. There was a strange desolation in them, and I could almost swear that she was the _only_ one in house who honestly thought this was our ending.

One night, just after we had left Renesmee on her crib, absolutely asleep. We had had to change a little bit our habit. When Bella finished reading her a book, I had to sing to her her melody until she fell into a soundless sleep. She had been restless for a few minutes, until her dreams became peaceful and colorful.

Repeatedly, I saw all the faces of our family, as if she herself wanted to memorize them.

"Hmm," I whispered after I finished humming to her. A little smile was beginning to form in her lips.

Bella turned to see me. "What?"

"It seems like it was premeditated that she only sees our faces in her dreams. As if she didn't want to get to forget us," I explained to her, while I kept looking into her dreams.

Bella sighed. "Well, I would want to be able to do the same thing."

I turned to see her, bewildered. "Sleep, though it were for only a few minutes. Forget about what's happening."

I frowned. Was she regretting the life she chose?

And as if she read my mind, Bella knew exactly what I was thinking. "No, Edward, I do not regret of having chosen this life. I've been happier in these short months as a vampire, by _your_ side, than when I was human, without _you_ by my side."

I laughed a bit at her explanation. She had been happy when she was human, yes, but because I had been with her.

I took her hand, and then whispered to her ear. "I love you, I always have and always will," then I kissed her lightly. "In this life or whatever is waiting for us."

"Heaven," Bella answered with strong conviction. "As long as you're with me, that'll be heaven to me."

I smiled again. That had always been her idea of heaven, and it seemed like it wouldn't change.

I nodded, and leaned down to kiss her.

Her arms wrapped tightly around me, and instead of keeping myself bent down, I lifted her up in my arms to be on the same height.

Then I chuckled, and started walking towards the door. Bella let go a little of me, her eyes questioning me. "I don't think it's the best place for this," I told her, turning around a bit for her to see Renesmee and understood what I meant.

Bella smiled, and biting her lips, she nodded.

While we walked hand in hand to our bedroom, Bella shuddered to some thought I couldn't listen to.

"What is it?" I asked her quickly, a little worried.

Bella shook her head.

I didn't ask anymore, I waited for her to tell me whatever she had to say. "Do you think Renesmee will be happy, without us?" her tone of voice was painfully sad.

"If she were with the _right_ person."

"With Jacob?"

I nodded only once. For as difficult as it was to accept it, I knew he was her soul mate, so the answer was a yes.

Bella also nodded. "Yes, she would be happy with him. And I knew she'd miss us, but…"

"Bella," I interrupted her. "you speak as if you were sure that that's what the future holds in store for her. One without us."

There was no answer.

"Why, Bella?" I asked her.

"I don't know, Edward. It was just a supposition," Bella said, her eyes were looking straight ahead. "If she lives, it's because _we_, too, right?"

"I hope so, I hope so," I mumbled.

She didn't seem to believe her own words when telling them, there was doubt in them. I could see it, it was almost tangible. I couldn't understand why she feared this so much. How it could be possible that I didn't listen not even a bit of hope in her voice when she spoke.

How had this happened?

I had the night to consider it, but I didn't use it on that.

That morning, after getting back to the house with Carlisle and everyone else, Jacob asked us _permission_ to take Renesmee to La Push.

Surprising us. Bella refused.

"No, Jake. I'm sorry. But right now, I don't want to be apart from Renesmee," Bella explained us.

_Huh?_ Jacob sighed, _well, I think we can fix that…_

"I'll be right back," Jacob whispered, walking out through the front door and phasing to wolf when getting into the trees surrounding the house.

"Where'd he go?" Bella asked.

I smiled, and shook my head. "Wait for a moment."

Renesmee was still looking to the front door where Jacob had gone through, waiting for him to come back.

After a few short minutes, Jacob was coming back, an extended smile on his face.

"Well, get ready," Jacob said, the smile still on his face.

"For what?" Bella asked.

"We're all going to La Push," he announced, excited.

Renesmee jumped up and down, clapped for a moment, and then was by Jacob's side.

"You didn't want to be apart from Nessie. You don't have to, because we're all going to La Push. Sam said there was no problem, besides there's no sun ray that can shine through the clouds today." He stopped for a second. "You can't tell you don't agree. It's perfect."

_It is! It is, isn't it, Daddy?_ I heard Renesmee exclaiming, while she looked at me and then at Jacob.

I smiled at her, and then came closer to Bella, and hugged her from behind. "What do you think?" my decision was already made. Renesmee wanted us all to go, and I couldn't refuse. "No problem with me."

Bella sighed. "Fine, fine. We'll go," she said, a smile fighting for not showing up.

I placed a kiss of her neck, and then when we both turned around to see Renesmee who was gloating with glee to her mother's response.

The entire pack of Jacob was at Emily and Sam's house when we arrived there. Considering that Quil, friend of Jacob, had taken Claire, who was barely just a more or so four-year-old child, asked Bella and me for permission, to take them both, Claire and Renesmee to the beach. Bella, more relaxed by being close, agreed, with the condition of keeping to a range where I could still hear them if we decided to reach them a while later. They agreed, and the four of them took off to the beach.

We weren't long in Emily's house. They both walked us to the beach. Even before seeing them, I could listen to their thoughts.

Renesmee was enjoying of the day by her new friend's side.

The four of us stopped a few meters away from the shore of the beach, where Jacob and Renesmee, Quil and Claire were playing around as if the four were little children of four or five-year-old. As soon as she heard us advancing, Renesmee turned towards us, and with a magnificent smile, she waved her hand over her head to greet us.

Bella and I waved her back, smiling.

Emily then said, "She's beautiful, Bella. And as she grows up, she seems to get even prettier."

Bella smiled. "Thanks."

"She's exactly got your eyes, incredible," Emily continued. "But she's got your face, Edward. She's surprisingly a combination of both of you."

Bella laughed or nodded as much as I did. We had heard such things too many times.

"She already speaks, right? Jacob said something like that."

Bella nodded, and chuckled. "She started talking since she was a week-old after being born," she turned to see me. "Though her intelligence didn't seem off to me. With such a father…"

I smiled a her, shaking my head.

"You are both great parents. I think you're making an excellent job with Nessie," Sam commented.

"Thank you, Sam," we both whispered, and then the four laughed.

It was fascinating how the relationship between the Quileute and our family, the Cullens, had changed with Renesmee's birth, and more than anything, with Jacob's imprinting. The families that had once been _enemies_ were now the same _family_.

I had only been once in this beach, and it wasn't too long ago.

An afternoon by Bella's side while we waited for Jacob to get better from that accident with a newborn in the meadow.

And now we were both, and with a plus we never imagined, back then, we would have.

The calm and happiness that emanated from Renesmee while she ran from side to side with Jacob behind her, was almost an anesthesia to our anxiety and tension that hardly left us these days. Her laughter making echo through the whisper of the wind grazing the leaves from the tress by our side, our hair, between the whisper of the waves hitting the shore of the beach, between the rocks that threatened with preventing its path, was fascinating.

Bella and I only watched without hesitation to the little girl who in front of us lived without worries for a moment we would forever treasure.

It was the live, or the way she looked like this moment – at least - what we both, always had wanted for her.

What else could make us happy, than seeing her laughing and running around, playing nonchalantly.

Nothing could make a father, a mother, happier than seeing their daughter happy.

Bella tightened her hand in mine, like she were agreeing with my thoughts.

We didn't come back late that day, the sun wasn't yet hiding behind the clouds, that seemed to have no intention of leaving for a few days. Maybe the date Alice had warned us of was coming closer.

But, to us, the weather wasn't a problem. The beach was almost deserted, except for one or another person.

When we got to the house, Bella went upstairs to my old room, to take dry clothing for Renesmee, she had been playing too close to the water until she had taken the decision to jump in. Rosalie and Esme had bought her _too much_ new clothing for this Christmas Holidays.

Carlisle and Emmett came to me after a few minutes.

"Son," Carlisle whispered. "Emmett and everyone else were talking about the weather."

_Do you think it'll snow soon?_

"That same thing I was thinking while we were at La Push, Carlisle. Perhaps tomorrow will be the day we can decide, depending on the weather, if it's time to go camp out on the meadow," I told them.

They both nodded. "We will have to tell everyone else."

"And we're hunting, when, little bro?" Emmett asked.

I shook my head. "I think we can do it when we're already camping."

"It's a good idea," Carlisle said.

_Damn!_

"Emmett," I mumbled, looking into his still completely golden eyes. "You just hunted two days ago, other days won't harm you."

"Ugh," Emmett growled. "Bears get lost in this time."

I laughed at his words.

It was so typical for Emmett to be worried about not finding a bear, than about the confrontation that was coming down on us in less than three days, maybe.

Renesmee and Bella came downstairs, I could perceive the smell of shampoo mixed with her perfect scent.

Jacob got up as soon as he saw them coming back, and took her in his arms, then he walked them to the kitchen, because Jacob was starving.

Bella went back to me.

I felt better as soon as her hand intertwined with mine.

It was strange the relief I felt. Taking into account that I knew she was just a few meters from me, in the same place that I was right now, and with our daughter. Any separation, for as smaller as it were at those moments, were almost painful.

And instead of just keeping her hand, I hugged her against my chest, and Bella wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Where's everyone?" I asked, noticing for the first time that I hadn't listened to any thought that wasn't the ones of my own family.

"Benjamin took them all to know the meadow. They all wanted to know where the confrontation would be. To be ready, I think," Carlisle answered.

I nodded, and felt Bella shuddering. I caressed her arm, trying to calm down any fear that had gone through her mind.

"Besides Benjamin had some ideas he wanted to show everyone else," Emmett interjected.

_You know, with his gift of controlling the _elements… he finished in his mind, with a sarcastic grimace.

Esme and Rosalie asked us to stay over, and Bella nodded to such request. Renesmee slept in my old bedroom under Jacob's care.

Everyone came back in different hours.

The Denali coven was the first one to come back with Garrett. No one was surprised.

For what I was seeing in Garrett's mind he didn't have thought, after all of this had happened, to go back to be a nomad.

Next ones were the Rumanians, that without speaking a single words or a look to anyone inside of the house, went away to Carlisle's office, to read or do something while they spent the hours left to their _wish_ to come true.

Carlisle went away with them for a moment.

Peter and Charlotte came back, too, after several minutes, but they stayed in the background talking with Mary and Randall.

The Egyptian coven walked in the house, but they didn't stay together.

Benjamin and Tia asked for Carlisle, and they stayed by Esme, Rosalie and Emmett's side when they knew that he was with the Rumanians. Amun and Kebi on the other side, isolated themselves in the attic, like Alistair had done while he were here.

The Amazons and the Irish coven were the last one in coming back.

We spent the next day at the house with everyone else. There was certain anxiety in Bella that I hadn't seen since the day when she had come back from Charlie's with Renesmee. Just after the sun had set down, Bella told me she was going to our cottage for a moment, that she'd soon come back. Of course, if it would've been another day, I would've let her go alone, but I couldn't. I took her hand and we both left, leaving Renesmee under the entire family and Jacob's care.

I waited, by her request, on the living room while she went to our bedroom.

After a few seconds she came back.

We returned to the house almost immediately. While Carlisle informed me of some details, Bella disappeared from my sight for a few minutes, though I could listen to her in my old bedroom. Then she reappeared with Renesmee in her arms, and a purse. Her clothing was too formal for her to only be in the house.

"Headed out?" I asked her. Her eyes tensed minutely, maybe Bella wasn't even conscious about that fact, but I was. It was today, an exact week since that other trip. And I wondered why that had me tense, still, I tried to keep the tone of my voice relaxed. I took Renesmee in my arms, squeezing her with a little bit more force than I usually did.

It took me a bit more of effort to seem _normal_, and maybe Bella noticed it.

"Yes, a few last-minute things…" Bella told me, her voice calm.

I smiled at her. "Hurry back to me."

"Always," was her answer, and it was enough for me.

Renesmee and I saw Bella leaving, her thoughts had a note of confusion in them as in mine. We both let it pass. Renesmee, after a while, asked me to put her on the floor, and she left to play with Jacob.

Tanya and her family decided to go hunting tonight, and they took Emmett's Jeep to go the furthest than usual. Emmett and Rosalie also went out, with Carlisle and Esme to the surroundings.

I stayed with Renesmee and Jacob at the house, waiting for Bella to come back.

"When are we camping?" Jacob asked suddenly.

Renesmee stopped what she was doing to pay attention to our little interchange.

"Tomorrow, surely."

Jacob nodded.

_We will be ready, for whatever it comes. We will not allow anything to happen to Renesmee,_ his tone was serious, more than normal, and the fact that he called her Renesmee instead of Nessie, was a proof of that.

I half smiled.

_What is it, Daddy?_ Renesmee asked, when she saw the sadness in my smile.

It was hard to fool her. She'd turned out to be as observant as her mother.

"It's nothing, Nessie," I whispered, caressing her cheek.

_With seventeen of us, and twenty of you, we are enough. We had to succeed on something…_

Jacob didn't seem to be aware of what he was thinking, nor was he doing it on purpose for me to know how many members the pack had now. I didn't find it strange, with more vampires in the surroundings than usual, it was almost obvious that we should expect the pack to grow. But, seventeen? It was impressive.

After a few seconds, he remembered that he was supposed to tell anyone the number of members, and though he hadn't thought about it for me to know, he stopped doing it.

He turned to see me, and sighed.

_That I couldn't help, but we _all_ are fighting._

I didn't say anything, but he knew I appreciated. And if I had said something, Jacob would have told me that there was no need. This time, he didn't do it just for Bella, but for Renesmee herself.

Half hour later, I listened to the thoughts of Kate and Garrett getting closer towards the house.

They had shortened the hunting trip.

At the same time, after asking me for the keys of each cars, the Egyptian coven in Alice's Porsche. Then later, the Irish coven went out in Bella's Ferrari, followed by the Rumanian's in Carlisle's Mercedes. Everyone with different targets in their minds.

Jacob only growled and complained under his breath every time a set of keys was given, and we heard the cars leaving the garage.

_I don't know how you stand it,_ Jacob complained while we saw the Rumanians left.

"Jake…"

"Yes, I've heard it before," he said, remembering.

_But they're the good guys just for this time,_ and then he turned to Renesmee.

A yawn interrupted her while she smiled.

"Are you tired, Nessie?" I asked her, leaning down towards her.

She put her little hand on my face, and an image of Bella walking in through the door appeared in my mind, and she half asleep in her arms.

"Do you want to wait for your mom to come?"

Renesmee nodded, yawning again.

"Okay, we'll wait," I told her, and half-smiled when she got happy by hearing me.

Kate and Garrett decided to walk in the house, then. They were still arguing about them coming back home before time.

It seemed, this time, Garrett had given up on the option of hunting animal instead of humans.

Renesmee got on her feet, half falling down due to her tiredness, and she sat on my lap. Her eyes could barely stay open, her face was on my chest.

"Do we take her to your house?" Jacob asked me.

Renesmee woke up a bit for a second, only to shake her head.

"We will wait for Bella," I whispered for only Renesmee to hear in her ear, and she calmed down.

_You mean: we will wait for you to fall asleep to take you home?_ Jacob asked, joking. I just nodded.

It wasn't too long later before Renesmee was completely asleep, and still there was no sign of Bella to be coming back anytime soon. She only had one hour out.

I stood carefully, as to not wake Renesmee up. And Jacob with me.

We didn't say goodbye this time to anyone. Kate and Garrett, like everyone, knew that at nights we always left to our home. We walked at a normal pace, and Jacob walked in his human form until we reached the cottage, and he said goodbye. I heard him shifting into wolf when he was in the woods.

I changed the subtlest and lightest I could Renesmee in her pajamas after I placed her on her crib. Her sleep was so deep, that she didn't even move or stir when I changed her.

I sat by her, waiting for Bella there.

It was absurd to think that she was keeping something from me, but I was sure she was. What was her secret? I had no idea, and perhaps, if she didn't decide to tell me soon, I would never know. Curiously, it wasn't as frustrating in these moments, to think that I would never know what it was that was going through her mind, what it was she was keeping from me.

I walked out of the room after a few minutes, and went to the living room. The chimney was on fire, Bella's books were on the little shelf by the side…

"_What's going on, Bella?"_

The words came to my mind on their own, as if there was a connection.

"_She was here. She ripped a page out of my book to write her note on."_

"_Why?"_

"_I don't know why."_

"_Why are you burning it?"_

"_I-I-"_ her hesitation then hadn't told me anything, nor had I found it strange, but now… _"It seemed appropriate."_

Did it have something to do, her weird attitude, with Alice's note?

Had there been more than _one_ note?

Not just to us, but for Bella, too?

What I didn't understand, was what the hell could Alice want to tell Bella that I couldn't know of?

I gave up after a few seconds, I didn't find it any sense at all. And like that night, I felt that everything escaped me, just when I thought that I already understood what was happening.

I sighed.

I decided to stay where I was to wait for Bella to come back. I could perfectly listen to Renesmee's thoughts, despite everything, she was sleeping peacefully. It was painful to imagine that she couldn't even rest, _live_ carelessly as the little child she was yet. After all, we still didn't know how much more would her accelerated growth would last.

Would some day stop, or would it keep going until it couldn't any longer?

I had all but forgotten about that problem, almost as huge in comparison to the Volturi, and to what we were facing against them.

Both issued had vital importance about her life.

It was, approximately, two hours or more, before Bella walked in through the front door back to the cottage. Due to our absence, she had guessed that I had decided to bring Renesmee back home to sleep. I paid attention, while she hugged me to the smells around her, there was a slight smell of humans in her clothing… but I didn't find that strange. She had said she had some things to do, and that would have to involve other people, maybe. And though I didn't ask her anything about her trip, the anguish and curiosity were eating me away.

She went to see Renesmee after a few minutes, and she wished her goodnight before returning to me.

"Nessie didn't want to come home until you came back, but at the end she fell asleep, and Jacob and I decided to bring her home."

Bella nodded, her eyes looking at the fire from the chimney for a moment.

"Did you make everything you needed?" I asked, and Bella reacted strangely. He jumped a bit, like she was scared or surprised by my question, her eyes tensed for a short second, and then she seemed to understand what I was asking.

Hmm, odd reaction.

"Ah, yes. It took me longer than necessary, but yes," was all she said.

I frowned, and Bella smiled at me.

My eyes searched for something in hers, something strange. But it seemed, that either wasn't anything weird _or_ she was decided to not letting me find anything.

She wrapped her arms around my neck, and now her eyes had another meaning.

I smiled. She seemed to have become really good at distractions as I had once been…

It was probably the shortest night of my existence. And maybe it didn't have anything to do with the hours and minutes that appeared to run faster than normal. Maybe it had to do with the terrible idea of imagining that this could be our last night together. Bella seemed as reluctant as I was to get apart from me.

It reminded me of our first night together, when I knew that I finally had her secured for eternity. It seemed like a joke to think about that now.

Did I really have her secured for eternity, like we once both wished for?

That we would know in a couple of days.

Bella and I were the only ones who got ready for the camping we would be doing in two days, waiting for the Volturi.

The occasion, the life or death situation, the weather, the ones who got ready, seemed like a reminder of seven months ago. Only that back then, we had been three leaving, and now Renesmee was with us. And who we were defending now, was not Bella.

Bella turned to see me while we packed the necessary, and then she raised an eyebrow.

"Another visit to the Newton's store?"

I frowned. "No," I told her "I think we had enough."

Renesmee and Jacob were like observers. When Renesmee looked that I was packing into the bag a package of dehydrated food – I didn't have the intention of forcing Renesmee to eat it, but I had to take it just in case – she raised her hand towards Jacob to show her the image of such package.

_What is it?_ I heard her asking.

"Dehydrated food… for humans," Jacob told her.

Renesmee grimaced, reminding me of her mother. We both smiled.

"You don't have to eat it," I assured her with another smile to what Renesmee smiled back.

Carlisle and Emmett walked in. "Ready?" Carlisle asked.

I nodded. "Yes, we can leave."

"You're staying with us tomorrow, Renesmee," Bella told her.

Renesmee touched her face, _Tonight?_

The image was clear, and Bella rushed to answer her. "Jacob will be with you, and tomorrow he'll take you with us. All right?"

Renesmee nodded, and we both said goodbye to her.

Carlisle and I stayed during two days in the meadow. I had so clear the memory of that night, when Alice had seen the Volturi arriving to this field, that it seemed almost real.

As if I were already seeing them walking…

"Repetitive?" I asked Carlisle when we arrived.

Carlisle smiled a bit. "Not completely, son. It's the Volturi we should fear now. Not Victoria."

A snarl escaped from my lips when I remembered her so close to Bella, her thoughts were filled with an unstoppable desire of seeing my Bella dead after all the time she had waited. Of causing me the same pain that she _had_ suffered because of me and _James_' death.

"Relax. There will be no dead this time."

It was hard to try, even, to convince Carlisle that maybe this would not be so quiet as he wished.

Bella came, too, of course. And we kept each other together the whole time. Now more than ever, it was painful to consider a separation.

One more permanent threatened in the front.

But this time, different the others, I had the hope that there would be no need of saying 'goodbye'.

Maybe it was in vain, but now I wouldn't let myself give up to the despair as many other times I had done already in the past. Because Bella and I would be together in this or in the other world. If Bella believed that something more was waiting for us after this life, why wouldn't I? I didn't have anything to lose with believing. It couldn't hurt me more than believing the opposite, so that's what I did. Have hope.

While I considered all of this, Bella and I set up a tent near the edge of the meadow for Renesmee, and Jacob, too, honestly. The kid slept always by her side.

I tried not to remember what this brought to my memory. It all seemed the same, but at the same time it was so different now.

Jacob was already there with Renesmee in the meadow in the morning, who had awoken much earlier than usual, anxious to get to see us again. As soon as they were in our sight, Renesmee launched towards Bella's arms, and then mine.

For a long while, it was hard for us to concentrate on something else that it wasn't being with Renesmee.

Benjamin and Tia arrived that same day, the sun falling, with Zafrina and Senna.

As soon as they arrived, Benjamin got to work, in what was supposed to be able to be of help if this was going to turn into a fight. The darkness of the night wasn't a problem, and while he worked with heaps of rocks that he could control like it was cotton, more witnesses were arriving, and friends. Tanya and her family were the first ones, followed by the Rumanians.

"That won't help," Eleazar whispered.

"I don't pretend to hurt them," Benjamin answered, concentrated on what he was doing. "I know it's not possible, but maybe it'll distract them enough to try something against them."

_Interesting, it's a good idea,_ Eleazar was thinking, and then nodded.

Jacob and Renesmee kept themselves the entire time by mine and Bella's side, while we looked at what Benjamin did.

"What is it?" Renesmee asked, her eyes on Benjamin.

Jacob shrugged.

"He can do whatever he wants with earth, Renesmee," Bella told her. "or with water, and the wind, too. Even fire."

Renesmee heard her intently, and then nodded seriously.

When she started yawning, Bella got ahead to the tent we had set up to change her into her pajamas and laid her down, after a while Jacob, too, walked in, and they both fell asleep almost immediately. I had to accept that it was a good thing that he was with her, she seemed to sleep a little bit more relaxed, more tranquil, when she had him close, even when she wasn't asleep he caused the same effect. Jacob, too felt more relaxed, knowing that he was by her side, and he could protect her if necessary. Jacob's snores were so loud, that I wondered how was it possible that Renesmee didn't even move nor her dream were interrupted.

The night passed quickly, and everyone else came before the sun made its appearance behind the clouds.

Bella and I got away from each other for a moment, while Carlisle and I accommodated our witnesses in a front line in the back of the meadow, where we would wait to see the Volturi walk in front of us and his entire guard.

"Benjamin, Zafrina, I think you should be on this side. Both. Near Bella," Carlisle pointed out where Bella'd be, so they'd take their places near that place.

They both nodded.

_Better death than slavery to which I would __be submitted,_ I heard Benjamin.

Zafrina, _I hope this works out. For the first time, the Volturi will be in disadvantage, if they can't see…_

"Emmett, Rosalie, you here," Carlisle said, moving both of them and Esme more to our side. They both nodded and moved.

_I wish that Demetri knew to fight_, Emmett though, ridiculously excited.

_I think,_ Carlisle was thinking, _that those who declared _fighting_ on our side, should be the nearer to us._ He had grimaced when he thought of a fight, but we had to be more realistic, and there was a great possibility that it were going to be.

I turned a bit towards my side to see Bella close to the tent we had set up for Renesmee and Jacob to sleep, and yet they were. Her eyes anxious.

Tanya, Kate, Carmen and Eleazar lined up by our family's side.

Both sisters, Tanya and Kate reminded us how they felt about this.

"We are part of your family, Carlisle. So this is our place."

_Fight and die, if it's necessary,_ Tanya was thinking.

Kate wasn't far from thinking the same way. _It's the least we deserve._

I shook my head. "Tanya, Kate…"

"Yes, yes. This will not come to a fight, and you are not asking us to fight if it came to one. We are not doing this because you asked us to or not, but because we want to," Tanya reminded me, holding hands with Kate, who agreed with her sister.

Everyone else were to each side of us.

The Rumanians, you could say, were the ones more excited. They were almost sure that this was the end of the Volturi.

_The time for revenge has come,_ Stefan rejoiced.

_They will pay for what they did to us, for their lies,_ Vladimir seemed to finish what Stefan thought.

Then I listened to Renesmee and Jacob waking up after a moment, we were still indicating places to the line.

Bella walked into with Renesmee as soon as she heard her waking.

As soon as he walked out of the tent, Jacob shifted to his wolf form, to let Sam know it was time.

_Sam?_

_Jacob,_ was all Sam told him, waiting, I guessed, that Jacob announced the beginning.

_We're all out in the meadow._

_Be right there._

And after a few seconds, the thoughts of all the wolves were beginning to be listened every time closer. They were soon in the meadow, though not the sight of everyone. Jacob left and gathered with them.

_We need to coordinate some things,_ was what Jacob told me while he disappeared in the forest.

I half listened to Bella inside of the tent with Renesmee, while Carlisle and I kept going about the most _convenient_ front line.

"_I love you," _through Renesmee telling her, in a _too much_ low tone, _"More than anything."_

"_I love you, too, Momma,"_ Renesmee answered her back, in her mind there was an image of her locker with our picture in it. _"We'll always be together."_

I stopped listening.

I strongly concentrated on the thoughts of everyone else to drown Renesmee's voice amongst everyone's. Listening to them talking that way, made it too much definitive, as if this was really the goodbye.

I refused to believe it.

_Time is coming, the read coats are coming…_ Garrett's voice distracted me.

I was confused, I couldn't listen to anything else in his mind, so I had no idea what he was talking about. And everyone else, it seemed, were on the same position.

_What's he talking about?_ Kate wondered with more intensity.

I turned to see Carlisle for an answer, but he was looking at me with the same expectation.

We both shook our heads, and shrugged.

_Not you, not me, son._

I half smiled at his answer.

_Did he go crazy or what?_ Emmett was thinking.

The Rumanians were the only ones who didn't seem as worried, but they neither put enough attention as to be able to see what it was about.

Before I could keep worrying unnecessarily about that, I heard Bella leaving the tent with Renesmee in her arms, firmly hugged to her from her neck. Renesmee's thoughts had a particularly sad tone, almost heart-broken over something. But I couldn't see anything more than a despair for being as long as she could with us, and Jacob.

I turned around, seeing them walk in the meadow.

The first thing I noticed, was the huge diamond hanging on her neck, and it wasn't exactly Renesmee. It was Aro's wedding gift he had sent while we were still at our honey moon in Isle Esme. Remembering it, remembering everything that had happened since then, that the precious little one that hung from her arms were the product of that trip, put a lump in my throat.

Bella hated gifts, specially _expensive_ ones; though it was obvious that there hadn't been any expense on such present.

The only thing I could imagine was that she wanted to start thing out peacefully. And why not?

But Bella wasn't the only one with an accessory, Renesmee was holding in her back a little purse. And I had no idea at all of what could be inside of it.

I raised an eyebrow, but none of us said anything.

When they were by my side, I hugged them both with all my might, or as much as I could exert with Renesmee in the middle of us. I didn't want to ever let her go. Ever. But I knew that at the end of this day, it was possible I didn't see them again, and that only made it harder to get apart from them. I listened intently to Renesmee's heartbeat, like a tranquilizer, like Bella's heart had once been to me, and how hers had once been the most significant sound in my world. And it had to kept being that way.

This battle would be won, as long as Renesmee kept living.

This was not a goodbye, I told myself so I would be able to let them go, everything will work out. And with a sight, I released them.

I looked from out of the corner of my eyes to Benjamin sat on the ground, he had the palms of his hands over it while he mumbled to himself.

_If they fell into a hole… the tectonic faults that could cause, would bring them trouble…_

Amun was almost burning fire with rage and fear, when he imagined what Aro would think when meeting the great talent of Benjamin, and more so when he heard that he had hidden it with the motive of never joining the guard.

Zafrina and Senna were equally concerned about what was coming. A thought alike: their sister Kachiri. They wondered if they would see her again.

In Tanya and Kate there was some expectation, and they were another two who worried over a sister.

Irina.

I concentrated beyond the thoughts that were surrounding me, I would listen to the Volturi much before everyone else would. Much before we heard them advancing on the road towards us.

I looked to the exact point where I'd seen them walk in, from Alice's vision.

_Edward, and Carlisle. All the family's gathered. Why would they run? I can find them wherever they are…_

Demetri was the most focused on our smell.

Aro was ecstatic about finally arriving to his destiny. Caius, too, but for a different reason. And Marcus, he wasn't particularly interested on the goal of this trip he had been forced to come anyway.

And then, I heard it.

It wasn't just the _guard_ and the _Volturi_ who had come. Behind them, were coming forty seven vampires, their own _witnesses_.

I forced myself to remain without any reaction to such discovery. I didn't want them to get worried.

The wolves heard the footsteps on the ground, and smelled new scents on the environment that didn't correspond to the vampires who were near them.

_They're coming_, I heard Sam announcing.

Jacob got tense immediately. _Nessie_, he quickly flew through the trees that had kept him in the darkness with the rest of the pack, to get on his side by Bella and Renesmee.

_They're close,_

_In less than three minutes, maybe less,_

_How this might end?_

I was listening to everyone wonder, exclaiming. But now, everything was about the Volturi.

_Jake_, Renesmee thought when she saw him by her side, and then he placed one of her little hands on Jacob's shoulder, her hand intertwining his wolf fur. _Mmm…_ her tension diminished a bit by having them all close.

Seeing the way Renesmee needed of Jacob to feel relaxed, the same emotion invaded me.

Without turning to see her, waiting that at any moment the Volturi walked into our sight, I stretched my arm out towards Bella for her to take my hand. Bella took it immediately, and the change was as surprising as the one I had seen with Renesmee and Jacob. I squeezed my fingers between hers. Hoping she understood what I wanted to tell her.

I could hear Aro.

I was impressed, I had to accept, that he had done all of this just to acquire a gift that he had never had before, nor imagined he could have.

_We waited too much, but it'll be worth it when my wish is fulfilled…_ I heard Aro.

And then an image of Alice and me crossed his mind, even one of Bella.

I didn't have to see anything else to know that his goal, his _desire_ had never been punishing us for what they believed, or were sure we had done. Their goal had always been that of acquisition.

How disappointed would Aro be when he saw Alice wasn't with us!

_An immortal child, when would I have imagined? They made it easier than we could ask of._ Aro was still rejoicing.

_As soon as we're done with Carlisle's _family_, Aro can do whatever he wants with that vampire girl he wants so much._ Caius was thinking, evilly.

And I couldn't help it, my body tensed, and a hissed escaped from my lips.

My eyes were now seeing to the precise place where Aro would come out, to find to what he so much desired. A little surprise was waiting for him. None of the vampires that were here, were willing to be forced to their service.

I heard Irina amongst all thoughts, she was easy to find.

_Oh, what have I done? Would Tanya and Kate be here?_

She had acted on an impulse, and she regretted such reaction. And she was tormented between the decision of being satisfied with what she'd one, or regretting it.

Now we all could hear them with clarity. Their footsteps were getting _louder_ with each step they took.

Alistair's face came to my mind, and what he had said, his reason to leave without even saying anything. He had been absolutely right.

Destroying and acquiring. Caius and Aro, that's what they desired each respectively.

_The time I had longed for so much had finally come!_

Was the last thing I heard from Aro before we could finally see them.

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**So? Was it good?**

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	37. Chapter 36, BLOODLUST

**God, hello guys!**

**I can barely believe I finally finished writing this chapter. I know it took me so long, but not as much as it's taking me with another story I'm currently writing! :S Sorry, but school's been crazy.**

**Thanks for all those one who still stick around waiting for an update, now that we're so close to the end, can you believe it? And we're also so close to the end of our waiting for Breaking Dawn to hit the theaters! Who isn't excited about that, right?**

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CHAPTER 36. Bloodlust

It was a thousand times worse than what I imagined.

I had the image of the Volturi guard getting into the meadow, in more than forty angles. More real than I would have liked it. I contemplated them while they kept advancing forward, quietly. As soon as they had gotten into the meadow, they seemed to have sealed away their thoughts. They were so used to these proceedings, that they didn't even give it a thought. And Aro, knowing that I could listen to it all, was controlling his to the perfection.

Still, I kept listening. The silence wasn't going to last long.

They were just _half_ surprised to see so many known and unknown vampires gathered with the Cullens. Aro had perfectly known that something like this was waiting for them. That Alice, with her unique talent would have warned us about their visit, and we would prepare for such thing.

The advance kept coming, and while it did, Aro and Caius were waiting for the moment in which their guards opened a way for them through, and to finally see the proof they had to punish us.

_Are they all? Are they really all?_

_It was true what they told us,_ Stefan and Vladimir were the most impressed by seeing the entire guard walking into the meadow.

Jane, Alec and Renata were the members of the guard who were the closest to Aro. They were the ones in charge on taking care of their Master with more intensity than any of the others. That's why he kept them by his side at all moment. After so many years, so many millennium of doing the same thing, the guard knew the right moment when they should open up a path to Aro, Caius and Marcus to what they had in front of them. A strong kind of expectation invaded Aro and Cauis when the way was opened for them.

A very different kind of expectation in both of them.

Aro searched with his eyes for Alice, for me, and even for Bella as soon as he could see us in front of them. On the opposite Caius, searched for the immortal child Irina had accused us of creating, and it was the reason why they were here.

_There is no doubt, there is the infraction they were accused of._

_Where is she? Where is Alice Cullen?_

It was very difficult for me to hold back the growl threatening to escape through my lips, when heard both their thoughts, though it would've been enough with listening to Aro. Even when Aro almost focused completely on Alice, there it was the ecstasies of finding out that the accusation against our family had turned out to be true when they saw Renesmee on Bella's back. Their thoughts, both, were about to explode with excitement. It was exactly what they wanted, and it had turned out to be much easier than what they thought.

Renesmee was suddenly scared, something that soon passed to be worry. She remembered how Bella didn't like the Rumanians, and she was seeing the Volturi, with the same appearance, and she was sure that our new visitors didn't like her either.

The advance seemed no never end. The rhythm with which they kept walking forward towards us was so regular, that made our formation line to seem sudden, unplanned.

I didn't care.

_So they gathered witnesses,_ Aro wondered when seeing us, _or are they fighters?_

This was going to be much more difficult than what I thought. Aro and everyone, were so sure of what this vampire gathering in front of them meant, because they themselves had another one of their own. They knew they were here as _witnesses_ or as _fighters_. And still, Aro didn't even have the remote intention of listening, of actually _listening_. Our testimonies would get to deaf ears, they had a lot of more reasons to keep going with their plan here.

_Edward, son? What is going on?_ Carlisle asked me after a few seconds.

But I was focused on finding something in Aro's thoughts, something that told me there was hope of getting out of this. On the other side, though he were not very likely willing to listen to the truth, he couldn't avoid accepting that Renesmee wasn't an immortal child, and that none of us had broken the law, that there was no reason for them to still be here, not even for punishing us. I would surrender without a second thought if that saved my daughter's life. If that was what he wanted...

_A werewolf?_ Caius noticed for the first time to Jacob, he had been so focused on Renesmee and Bella, that he hadn't seen him.

An almost irrational fear invaded him. Interesting.

"The redcoats are coming, the redcoats are coming," Garrett broke the silence, then a chuckle followed it. His thoughts went to Kate then, and he got a step closer to her.

"They did come," Vladimir was the first one to tell to Stefan.

"The wives," Stefan hissed when he heard Vladimir, and when they saw what they had in front of him. "The entire guard. All of them together. It's well we didn't try Volterra."

I ignored them.

At any second, the group of vampires that the Volturi had brought with them were about to walk in the meadow, too. Their thoughts were as clear as the Volturi's. But a difference, was that there was only one thing they wished: punishment.

And then...

The thoughts of our witnesses seemed to stop for a second when they saw the new group of vampires entering the meadow.

_More?_

_We should've known this would happen._

_Oh, no!_

A new level of worry added to the already existent one when they saw this group. I didn't say anything, but I knew that because of _them_ we didn't have to worry. The Volturi didn't count them, they were nothing to Aro...

_Wow!_

I heard the expression of surprise in the group in front of us.

_Could the Volturi be up against them?_

_They will beat them down easily... they have to pay for their disobedience._

_They've never lost before, and this won't be the first time._

They were here to support the fight, that some already were sure of what would be unleashes here. But others had so much fear of being with the Volturi now, as they would be of being by our side.

_Oh, Edward, dear young! You've broken the rules, haven't you? Poorly done,_ Aro was thinking.

Caius wasn't so nice with his thoughts._ The end of the Cullens's arrived._

I kept looking into their minds, but there wasn't much to see anymore. Everything we had deduced of their behavior when Alice had left and our friends had come, turned out to be obvious now that I was seeing into Aro's and Caius' mind. They would stop, of course, to listen to the truth as it was the usual, part of the façade they showed, but they wouldn't really do such thing. They had so many other things to throw at us to punish s, that it would result difficult to win by good means.

Irina was there, of course, and Tanya and Kate got anxious immediately when they saw her so scared amongst the Volturi. Out family wasn't the only one on receiving a punishment, it seemed.

I growled. If it hadn't been because of her and her _love_ for Laurent, we wouldn't be here at this position. My daughter, my Bella wouldn't be facing death right now...

_Edward!_ Tanya exclaimed.

But that wasn't just because of that that she had reacted that way... "Alistair was right," I whispered to Carlisle.

Carlisle turned to see me, I saw my face reflected in his mind. _What do you mean, son?_

"Alistair was right?" was Tanya who whispered.

_Explain yourself,_ everyone seemed to ask for.

"They—Caius and Aro—come to destroy and acquire," I murmured the lowest possible I could, testing at the same time if the Volturi could hear us. And they seemed to not be able to. "They have many layers of strategy already in place. If Irina's accusation had somehow proven to be false, they were committed to find another reason to take offense. But they can see Renesmee now, so they are perfectly sanguine about their course. We could still attempt to defend against their other contrived charges, but first they have to stop, to hear the truth about Renesmee," I stopped for a fraction of a second, and lowering even more my voice, I finished. "Which they have no intention of doing."

_Well they will_, Jacob thought, snorting lightly at my words.

And then, as if proving what I had said, _gather round, let them see what they're facing_.He asked to Sam and the rest of the pack.

_There are enough witnesses… but, if they won't…_

_So, what are our _strategies_ going to work for?_

The pack of wolves started to advance forward, letting themselves be seen by the Volturi, who immediately stopped when they saw them.

_Werewolves?_

_It cannot be, not werewolves. Do they have an alliance with our _enemies_?_

The Volturi were completely surprised of seeing such a large group of werewolves on our side, and that they didn't attack us. Caius was the only on amongst all of them that besides of surprise, had felt something else. He was terrified. His mind quickly gave me the answer to such weird reaction from him. He was something more than scared of them. Years, many years ago it seemed, he had almost been died under the claws of a werewolf. Of course, what he didn't know if that these ones weren't _werewolves…_

Seventeen wolves on our side would help in a totally different way to what they had thought, to what we ourselves had thought.

While I kept looking to Caius' reaction, I heard Bella growling.

Even after all this time, it was still unsettling to listen to Bella that way. I didn't turn, but from another angle, I looked at her half-smiling. As if she were teasing them. Zafrina and Senna by her side, reacted the same way.

_Mommy?_

I squeezed her hand lightly, and understanding what I asked her, she calmed down.

_It's not so bad that there are werewolves…_

_Just like with the vampires, we won't have any trouble beating down those wolves…_

Alec and Jane weren't worried about the group of werewolves that they saw in front of them. After all, their gifts worked just fine in animals, too. What they didn't now, was that their _gifts_ didn't function behind Bella's shield.

_This will be easy,_ Caius was thinking, _those animals don't matter, they won't be able to do anything against us. The punishment will include them, too. They will be extinguished just as the others will be too._

The looks of Aro and Caius were the only ones that looked over all our line with something more than interest over the number of vampires that there were in front of them. The two of them had come with the same goal in mind. The level of interest was different, of course, but the same at the end. They looked over every face.

_There is Carlisle, and his family. That cocky of Edward, and his mate, Bella. That immortal girl…_

_Who are those women? I had never seen them before, they seem a little wild, their clothing seemed to tell they're coming from some kind of jungle… there is Garrett and Amun. Carlisle's entire family, Edward, Bella, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett… but where is Alice and Jasper? Some place they have to be…_

_Aro? How do we proceed? Damn Rumanians, what are they doing here?_

_I can't find more than five weak points amongst them, Aro._ Marcus was informing Aro while he still kept trying our bonds with his gift. _Even those wolves are completely bonded with them, there is no way to separate them…_

_Carlisle, Edward, Eleazar – of course -, Tanya. They're more than us. There must be something…_

"Edward?" _Son?_ His voice sounded anxious. _What is happening?_

_You could start explaining, already._

"They're not sure how to proceed," I began explaining to them, while I kept listening. "They're weighing options, choosing key targets—me, of course, you, Eleazar, Tanya. Marcus is reading the strength of our ties to each other, looking for weak points. The Romanians' presence irritates them."

_Good, just the reaction we were looking forward._

_It's good to know. Ha!_

"They're worried about the faces they don't recognize—Zafrina and Senna in particular—and the wolves, naturally."

_And they don't know what I can do yet._

_They better be worried._

"They've never been outnumbered before. That's what stopped them."

_What?_ An echo responded to my words. _Come on! What does he mean with outnumbered? There are more than seventy vampires in front of us…_

"Outnumbered?" Tanya asked, her voice full of doubt.

The only one who understood what I was talking about, was Eleazar. Having been on the other side some other times.

_Of course,_ Eleazar thought, _they're just _witnesses_, not members…_

_Edward?_

"They don't count their witnesses," I told them. "They are nonentities, meaningless to the guard.

Aro just enjoys an audience."

"Should I speak?" Carlisle asked me, his eyes on Aro.

Up until this moment, that they could see there was movement on our side, was that Aro finally realize that they couldn't listen to anything from our side. He didn't like such thing. But, should he, then? With what I was seeing in Aro's mind, it was now or never.

I nodded. "This is the only chance you'll get."

_All right, let's do it…_

Carlisle, then, squared his shoulders and prepared to advance a few steps forward toward the front and speaking to Aro.

The tension was obvious in the faces of absolutely everyone as it was their minds by seeing him advancing.

_Carlisle!_ Esme whined inwardly.

_Here we start,_ Eleazar thought.

Aro and Caius were looking at him with intense concentration while he advanced, and then stopped barely a few steps in front of us. When he stopped, Carlisle raised up his hands in the air, greeting. "Aro, my old friend. It's been centuries."

Aro didn't answer back, he just stayed staring at Carlisle, weighing the words he had just heard, in comparison to what he saw.

_What's going on?_

_This won't be as friendly as Carlisle expects to…_

_Why doesn't he say anything?_

_Everything alright?_

_We should've left when we could, you just have to look at Aro to know how upset he is…_

On the other side.

_Old _friend_? How dare he?_ Caius was the most enraged.

_Mmm, well. His tone is as friendly as ever. But, he has gathered all those vampires to kill me and my darlings…_

Aro was wrong, of course.

I was anxious to get an answer out of him already. That this started to advance as _we_ wanted it to, not them. I wanted us to begin on our strategy, that they Renesmee wasn't an immortal child, and though it wouldn't be easy, we wouldn't give up.

At last, after a moment, that seemed longer than it really was, Aro stepped forward barely a step away from his guard toward the front, toward us, and it was enough to make the entire guard to react, exaggeratedly, yes, but they reacted. Renata moved with Aro, of course, it was her job to defend him against any danger, for as little or defenseless as it seemed. And thought Aro was only thinking on moving a few step, too, no one would let him move alone. Renata, like everyone else, Jane, Alec, Demetri, Feliz, everyone was prepared to defend their master, their master from whoever wanted to hurt him.

The other thirty vampires growled, their foreheads wrinkled to what their master was planning on doing, they showed their teeth and some prepared to attack…

"Peace," Aro ordered them, raising one of his hands.

And though they didn't like his order this time, they obeyed. Or tried to.

Again he started to move forward toward Carlisle, only a few steps away just as Carlisle had done. His eyes were only on him, but his mind was intently focused on absolutely everything surrounding him, especially the ones who were in front of him.

_What will it be? What will he say?_

Aro was wondering, in his was just as clear.

"Fair words, Carlisle," Aro said. "They seem out of place, considering the army you've assembled to kill me, and to kill my dear ones."

Carlisle almost had a shock attack for a fraction of a second when he heard Aro, what he thought it was happening now. On the other side, how could he accuse Carlisle of setting an army to kill him, when he himself came with the same intention?

_Hypocrite,_ I heard several agreeing.

Then, Carlisle shook his head, and outstretched his hand towards Aro's direction. "You have but to touch my hand to know that was never my intent."

_Right! Lies!_ Caius was yelling.

Aro's mind passed from accusation for such thing, to the reason he had for being here. It seemed that it didn't matter what his intention was, anyway. The law, according to them, was broken, and they had to punish the ones who had broken it. Whether it was Carlisle, who they were sure was the one who had done it, or any other member of our family. But looking at Renesmee with Bella, they considered to other ones as culprits. His eyes narrowed, and then Aro said. "But how can your intent possibly matter, dear Carlisle, in the face of what you have done?" He frowned.

The sadness that invaded him, showed in his face too.

_Having to punish him with dead, it will be hard, but it has to be that way. My dear and old friend…_

"I have not committed the crime you are here to punish me for," Carlisle said.

_More lies, how can he refuse it?_ Caius.

_Even better, I wouldn't want your life to end here,_ Aro was already considering the option, to the _very_ contrary Caius was doing.

"Then step aside and let us punish those responsible. Truly, Carlisle, nothing would please me more than to preserve your life today."

"No one has broken the law, Aro. Let me explain," Carlisle repeated, raising his hand once again.

_Oh, it's been enough already,_ Caius exclaimed from his place.

Much angrier than what he'd been before, he advanced until he reached the place where Aro was at the moment, and then, being by his side, he allowed his rage to get unleashed. "So many pointless rules, so many unnecessary laws you create for yourself, Carlisle," his voice was all but calm, his thoughts were about to burst out while he spoke. "How is it possible that you defend the breaking of one that truly matters?"

"The law is not broken," Carlisle insisted again. But I knew, like everyone else, that being about Caius, there wasn't much hope of being heard. "If you would listen-"

_Does he think we're fools or what? It's a humiliation… _"We see the child, Carlisle. Do not treat us as fools."

"She is not an immortal," Carlisle started. "She is not a vampire. I can easily prove this with just a few moments-"

Carlisle of course, was being interrupted by Caius. "If she is not one of the forbidden, then why have you massed a battalion to protect her?"

"Witnesses, Caius, just as you have brought." Carlisle said, the pointed to the groups of vampires behind them.

Carlisle couldn't have said anything more true that made Caius to get much more upset.

The vampires behind the guard snarled when they heard _such_ comparison.

"Any one of these friends can tell you the truth about the child," Carlisle continued. "Or you could just look at her, Caius. See the flush of human blood in her cheeks."

_Mmm, true, true…_ Aro was silently mumbling, keeping away Carlisle's words for laters.

"Artifice!" Caius yelled. "Where is the informer?"

Here was coming what we so much feared. I listened the extreme anxiety that caused Caius' words on Tanya as much as on Kate, like in Carmen and Eleazar.

"Let her come forward!" Caius looked over with his eyes amongst the wives, where she was supposed to be kept. When he spotted her, he talked to her. "You! Come!"

Tanya and Kate watched intently to Irina, the same she did with her sisters. At first, Irina looked a little confused at Caius. She seemed to not understand what was that Caius now wanted. As if she didn't understand what he was telling her, her mind was totally focused on what was happening because of _her_ fault, and what could happen to her family for such thing.

_What is she waiting for?_ Caius complained, then he flipped his fingers, seeing to one f the bodyguards of the wives, who were closer to Irina. He, understanding what Caius wanted, moved forward toward Irina to then push her a little bit to the front. Irina blinked twice, trying to understand, once again what she had to do. She walked slowly towards Caius, with fear now, another kind of fear. Her eyes were on Tanya and Kate the entire time.

Caius advanced until reaching her, given the fact she had stopped a few feet away from him. I would have prevented everyone from his intention, if it hadn't been so spontaneous.

A slap was what followed on.

Everyone felt a tremendous shock by seeing such thing. Especially Tanya and Kate, who reacted. A hiss followed.

_Damn him, damn him... she didn't do anything to deserve such thing..._

Irina tensed, but at the end she focused on what Caius wanted.

_Finally_, Caius thought, he then pointed with one of his fingers to Renesmee. I felt as I should get in the way of his evil look and my daughter's innocent look. It was so filled of hatred that I felt Renesmee inwardly shuddering. Jacob growled when he felt that Renesmee tightened the hold of her fingers in his fur. He knew, like we did, that she was scared of such look.

"This is the child you saw?" Caius asked, exasperated. "The one that was obviously more than human?"

Irina, for the first time, laid her eyes on Renesmee and Bella.

I could see the scene repeatedly in her mind. The way her thoughts had been divided in two, between the indecision and still a bit of betrayal. Without deciding between arriving to our home and apologizing for her attitude towards us, or still be mad until the end of days. The way she strayed through the woods of Forks, and then she heard the smile of a child. She walking slowly into the meadow where Bella had seen her, her eyes following the sound of others there: a little girl who was more than human, and a werewolf by her side... But, obviously, the child that was now seeing was much bigger than the one she saw before. Renesmee had grown up in this last month, making impossible that anyone doubt she wasn't an immortal.

"Well?" Caius asked her, growling impatiently.

"I... I'm not sure."

"What do you mean?" Caius said coldly, his hand flexing while he tried to control the impulse of hitting Irina again.

"She's not the same,"

_She's not the same?_

_Now she wants to defend her _friends_, that's what's happening. More lies..._

"but I think it's the same child," Irina kept telling. "What I mean is, she's changed. The child is bigger than the one I saw, but-"

Caius couldn't help it, the rage that was filling him came out of him in a gasp, that made Irina to stop when she heard the rage in it. Aro also noticed that Caius was about to lose the very little patience he had, and knowing him so good, he came closer to him quickly and he then put a hand on his shoulder.

"Be composed, brother. We have time to sort this out. No need to be hasty."

_Fine!_ He thought, and then he gave his back to Irina.

Aro, more than keeping this composed, wanted to once again see what Irina meant, the doubt enveloped him. _She's not the same_, the words kept spinning in his mind.

"Now, sweetling. Show me what you're trying to say," Aro finally asked her, with his very noticeable polite tone. As if he were speaking to a daughter, or something like that. He raised his hand for Irina to take it, and though she didn't completely trust doing it, she did it. She knew she had no other choice than to do what Aro was asking her.

Five seconds were enough for Aro to see what Irina hadn't been able to explain.

"You see, Caius?" Aro talked to him when he finished seeing Irina's memories. "It's a simple matter to get what we need."

Caius, of course, didn't answer anything to his brother's words. His mind was suddenly occupied with another _matters_.

I didn't like hearing to what he was thinking.

Aro looked at the group of vampires behind them from the corner of his eye. _This makes it harder, but not so much..._

Then, Aro turned to see Carlisle again. "And so we have a mystery on our hands, it seems. It would appear the child has grown. Yet Irina's first memory was clearly that of an immortal child. Curious."

There was a relief in the mind of almost everyone present, of our witnesses. Still, who I kept feeling tense, was Bella. And I understood it, not even I was capable of feeling relief, nor would it be until seeing them leave and still having Renesmee with us.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to explain," Carlisle quickly said, remembering why we were here.

_Here we go_, Carlisle was thinking when he raised his hand again.

But, like me, and everyone, knew that Aro wouldn't want to listen to the story from Carlisle's point of view, but mine.

_Oh my dear Carlisle, you could tell me what we need _only_ about the little girl..._

Aro hesitated for a little instant, before letting his wish being known. "I would rather have the explanation from someone more central to the story, my friend. Am I wrong to assume that this breach was not of your making?"

"There was no breach," Carlisle answered him.

"Be that as it may, I will have every facet of the truth," the tone of his voice betrayed the curiosity he was really feeling. It was obvious that he longed for more than the truth.

_Now he will know all of our thoughts._

_It was obvious that he would want Edward._

_We knew this would happen, it isn't a big surprise._

"And the best way to get that is to have the evidence directly from your talented son," Aro continued on, leaning his head towards me. As if I didn't know he meant me. "As the child clings to his newborn mate, I'm assuming Edward is involved."

No one was surprised when they heard Aro saying that, but suddenly everyone put their minds in blank, as if they didn't want me to listen to something that bothered Aro in these moments.

I could listen to nothing. The only ones who kept their minds _open_ was my family.

_Good luck, brother!_

_Let's hope this would work out as we want._

_Daddy, what's going on?_

I turned towards Bella and Renesmee when I heard her, without looking into their eyes, I didn't believe me capable of tolerating walking away from them if I saw a little sign of worry in their eyes, a little level of fear by seeing me, so I only placed a quick kiss on both their foreheads, and took off towards Aro. I patted Carlisle's shoulder when I walked by, and heard the growing worry of both, Carlisle and Esme by seeing me walking away from them. I tried to not listen anymore, and it wasn't very difficult now to drown off their voices concentrating on the dozens of minds that there were in the meadow.

Something more intense than the expectation flooded Aro's mind when he saw me getting closer to him. His curiosity was insatiable. He knew that once he saw inside my mind, he would not only be seeing my thoughts, but everyone present too, and who weren't present, either.

I kept my eyes fixated on Aro. But I was listening to what his guard thought. Jane was ecstatic of seeing me so close to _their_ side than to _mine_. I didn't show any expression at all, she wasn't the only one excited about having someone of our line so close to them that it would be very easy to finish me off.

An uncontrolled laughter broke the silence while I advanced toward Aro, and from some looks of the guard I could see who was.

Bella. Why was she laughing?

I didn't have time to get some conclusions, though I wouldn't have been able to, anyway. I didn't have explanations to know the cause.

I stopped a few steps from Aro.

_Oh my dear, Edward. It seemed like you consider reading your mind is a great honor._ Aro told me while he came closer to me, Renata behind him, anxious. _But you're right, it is. It's not only your mind I'm knowing, but everyone present's thoughts._

I raised my hand, waiting for _him_ to come to me, now.

Without hesitating a second, he walked forward until reaching me, and took my hand to, finally, see everything he needed, and wished it seemed. He searched until he found the first moments after having left that room in Volterra, Alice, Bella and I. It was like a repetition of my own memories. For now.

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Is it really sick for me to be happy right now?"_ I heard my Bella's voice in his head.

_"I know exactly what you mean. But we have lots of reasons to be happy. For one, we're alive."_

_"Yes. That's a good one."_

_"And together."_

Aro quickly passed the next hours in my mind, until he found the faces of my family, at the airport, waiting for us.

"_You will _never_ put me through that again,"_ Esme's voice said in his head.

"_Sorry, Mom."_

We passed Rosalie and Emmett's face in the car, and the road to Forks. The difficult part was with Charlie when we arrived to Bella's home. The way she clunk to my arms, instead of allowing to me to surrender her to Charlie, when I left her in her bedroom, and Charlie forbidding me to get in his house, demanding from me to stay away from his daughter forever...

"_Isabella Marie Swan. Do you believe that I asked the Volturi to kill me _because I felt guilty_?"_

"_Didn't you?"_

"_Feel guilty? Intensely so. More than you can comprehend."_

He kept reading , he wanted to know the story deeply, more than just understanding what happened around Renesmee in our lives.

_"Bella, you seem to be under a misapprehension,"_ her face disappeared for a moment. _"I_

_thought I'd explained it clearly before. Bella, I can't live in a world where you don't exist."_

"_I am... confused."_

"_I'm a good liar, Bella, I have to be."_

He was passing through my memories faster now.

"_I knew it. I _knew_ I was dreaming."_

_She didn't believe you, dear?_

_"You're impossible. How can I put this so that you'll believe me? You're not asleep, and you're not dead. I'm here, and I love you. I have always loved you, and I will always love you..."_

I was getting impatient, I wanted his look over through my mind to finish, but I knew it was barely beginning.

_"Yesterday, when I would touch you, you were so… hesitant, so careful, and yet still the same. I need to know why. Is it because I'm too late? Because I've hurt you too much? Because you have moved on, as I meant for you to? That would be… quite fair. I won't contest your decision. So don't try to spare my feelings, please—just tell me now whether or not you can still love me, after everything I've done to you. Can you?"_

"_What kind of an idiotic question is that?"_

"_Just answer it. Please."_

A moment of silence followed, less painful than it was at that moment. _"The way I feel about you will never change. Of course I love you—and there's nothing you can do about it!"_

_"That's all I needed to hear."_

The whole still _romantic_ conversation from that night he passed it by quickly, until he found something more interesting.

"_I will keep my promise, Bella. But Victoria is going to die. Soon."_

"_Let's not be hasty. Maybe she's not coming back. Jake's pack probably scared her off. There's really no reason to go looking for her. Besides, I've got bigger problems than Victoria."_

_Victoria, huh? The vampire who caused you some trouble last summer?_

"_You do realize that I'll die eventually, right?"_ Bella's angry voice was filling his mind now.

"_I'll follow after as soon as I can."_

He passed by my once intentions of leaving Bella as a human, not fulfilling what they had ordered me. At the end, it hadn't been done that way.

"_May I ask where you are going?"_

"_I'm going to your house."_

After failing when I tried to convince her to stay, Aro continued to my agreement.

"_Okay. I'll give you a ride."_

"_Either way. But you probably _should_ be there, too."_

"_And why is that?"_

"_My mortality. I'm putting it to a vote."_

_Interesting, Edward. Very interesting..._

The whole trip passed, Bella's epiphany just before we arrived to the house, my reasons for not _fearing_ the Volturi, the way my siblings had agreed with me and then changed their minds, accepting that Bella were changed, different reasons of each, but accepting, how Carlisle had promised to be him the one who made the change, seeing that Alice didn't seem capable of doing it, how we agreed on the date being until graduation, how I came up with the idea of asking Bella to marry me to be able to hold her up as a human for a little bit longer...

_"If you don't mind, I'd much rather you didn't hide your face. I've lived without it for as long as I can stand. Now… tell me something."_

_"What?"_

_"If you could have anything in the world, anything at all, what would it be?"_

"_You."_

I shook my head. _"Something you don't already have."_

_"I would want… Carlisle not to have to do it. I would want you to change me."_

_"What would you be willing to trade for that?"_

"_Anything."_

He passed by the part where I had proposed to her, and how she had refused me. The conviction she had shown in front of Charlie when she didn't accept him trying to getting me away from her side, or to try to get her away from my side.

"So eager for eternal damnation."

_"You know you don't really believe that."_

_"Oh, don't I?"_

_"No. You don't."_

He listened intently to what Bella had told me, then.

_"So let's both just be hopeful, all right? Not that it matters. If you stay, I don't need heaven."_

"_Forever."_

"_That's all I'm asking for."_

He kept on faster through my mind, reading every thought that my family had had around me. Our entire stay after getting back to Forks and by Bella's side. All of our plans, all of our talks, our days together, our night together, our time in the companion of _my_ family and Bella's father, the hatred Charlie had professed toward me since I came back. Every thought and moment between my siblings and my parents... everything.

Every happy and anxious moment.

"_Do you really have any idea how important you are to me? Any concept at all of how much I love you?"_

"_I know how much_ I _love_ you_."_

"_You compare one small tree to the entire forest."_

"_Impossible."_

"_No werewolves."_

His eyes kept looking into my memories from the closest months. While he concentrated on the conversations about the werewolves I had with Carlisle and my family, their thoughts, their theories... he looked over our trip to Jacksonville, Bella's father's reaction to such thing. Our fruitless searches for Victoria around Forks, the news in TV, the newspapers, how careful we were when we had to take care of Bella and her father, too, in her house. The involvement of the wolves, too.

The telephone rang in my pocket, Emmett and Jasper and I didn't yet arrive to the place where we had gone hunting, so I could answer. It was Alice.

"_Edward? Edward! I lost her! I can't find her, her future's disappeared like a few seconds ago. I think she's with that dog of Black. But I can't be _sure_. I'm so sorry, Edward."_

"_I'm going back to Forks right away."_

I hadn't even explained my brothers what Alice had told me, not even had I turned around to see them, nor had I been worried about listening to their thoughts and silent questions, I had turned around and been back to Forks in less than fifteen minutes.

I had run like never before I had all over the Quileute border incessantly, the hours passing by with an unbelievable slowness. My anxiety growing with each passing second, my fear along with it. I had been about to cross the line when I heard far away the boisterous noise Bella's truck made by driving back to Forks by the driveway. Alice had seen her, too and where I was. She was where I was within minutes, with the Volvo.

"_I'm sorry," it seems we will have to be even much more careful with her when you're not around..._

I had nodded and took the Volvo. Following behind her until Angela's house. The argument when we got back home, where I was waiting for her in her bedroom hadn't been pleasant. But she had given me much to think about, and to realize that it wouldn't be easy for me to keep her away from Jacob, and on the contrary, I was pushing her towards him, pushing her away from _me_. Anyway, that thought hadn't crossed my mind until the next hunting trip. Alice was my only option for keeping Bella under good surveillance, avoiding her to escape. Aro passed by the moment in which Alice's eyes had shined like the yellow color of the Porsche I had given her, with what I had paid her for keeping Bella under her care. Though either way, Bella had managed to get away with Jacob again next day.

Three messages had received me the day we were due to come back. The first one from Bella; the last two were from Alice.

"_You are in trouble. Enormous trouble. Angry grizzly bears are going to look tame next to what is waiting for you at home."_

"_I'm sorry again, Edward. She escaped with Jacob. I'll let you know when she comes back."_

Sigh of relief. _"Bella's back, and she's fine. I even think she's upset with that mongrel. Don't worry."_

When I had come back home, finding my angel sleeping on the couch of my bedroom, rejecting even more what I had to offer. Sleeping uncomfortably instead of enjoying the comfort of the bed in the middle of my bedroom.

"_Where did all this tolerance come from?"_

Sighing, I had explained to her from where. _"I decided that you were right. My problem before was more about my . . . prejudice against werewolves than anything else. I'm going to try to be more reasonable and trust your judgment. If you say it's safe, then I'll believe you."_

"_Wow."_

"_And... most importantly... I'm not willing to let this drive a wedge between us."_

The memory continued on until the next day, back to home, Bella by my side. My thoughts were a fury against Alice.

"_What happened?"_

"_I have no idea. I didn't see anything."_

"_How is that _possible_?"_

The argument kept going, Carlisle and Esme almost imploring for me to calm down.

"_If you're watching Italy, why didn't you see them send-"_

"_I don't think it's them. I would have seen that."_

A new scenario appeared in his mind, prom. The way Alice kept her mind beyond busy, hiding something she didn't want me to know about. She always did that when she was trying to keep something from me.

Again, another scenario. Alice and Bella starring it, Jasper by both their sides, and in front of them were Jacob, Quil and Embry.

"_Everything just disappeared, of course. That's inconvenient, but, all things considered, I'll take it."_

"_We'll have to coordinate. It won't be easy for us. Still, this is our job more than yours."_

The next days passed by through his mind, impressed up to certain point. The way the werewolves had allied with us ever since then, at least he believed so because he hadn't reached the present yet. The fight practices with Jasper and the wolves as watchers, Bella's petition of staying by my side during the fight, whether she was in it or not, my acceptance to her request. The arranges between my family with my not being there anymore, the understanding, Emmett's excitement. Bella's new kidnap, where Alice wasn't the responsible but me. The consequences of that night...

"_Be reasonable, Bella."_

"_You promised – whatever I wanted."_

"_We're not having this discussion."_

The entire argument from that night repeated in my mind.

"_This is unbearable. So many things I've wanted to give you — and this is what you decide to demand. Do you have any idea how painful it is, trying to refuse you when you plead with me this way?"_

"_Then don't refuse."_

"_Please,"_ Bella again.

"_Bella..."_

Of course Aro was surprised with such memory, and at that moment he knew that Renesmee had to be the product of such promise... and he pressed forward to the memories much faster.

He read quickly every memory of that night and ahead that it almost surprised me that it was understandable for him what he saw. He passed from that night of making our compromise official, to that promise to be fulfilled, to the night we spent camping with Jacob, how Bella slept in Jacob's arms, how she whispered his name while sleeping, how she kissed him and asked him to come back alive, how Victoria found us, and Seth helped me to finish off the other vampire, Riley, while I took care of finishing off Victoria, our return to the meadow by our family's side waiting for Jane and the others. He saw the pain in Bella's face and the tears falling restlessly down her cheeks when I found her in her truck when she came back from seeing Jacob, when she came back of telling him I was the one she chose. The unbearable night we spent together, she crying for _him_, and I listening to her crying for _him_. How she explained to me that it was me she really wanted, our visit to Alice and her excitement about seeing us arriving with the news that she already knew Bella was there to give her. Our trip to the meadow after trying her wedding dress, her reasons for wanting to wait, even when I saw the same desire burning in her eyes as they were in mine, the soft slide of her engagement ring on her finger where it would be forever. Our visit to her father's house, and his reaction when he listened to the news...

"_Bachelor parties are designed for those who are sad to see the passing of their single days. I couldn't be more eager to have mine behind me," No, I couldn't, I was barely bearing the desires of calling her my wife finally. "So there's really no point."_

"_True."_

The memories would get much more intimate between Bella and I while Aro kept going on through my mind.

"_I do,"_ my Bella's voice, thick with tears sounded in my mind.

"_I do."_

"_Enjoying the party, Mrs. Cullen?"_

"_That will take a while to get used to."_

"_We have a while."_

"_Just? Oh, Jake! Everything is perfect now_ _Oh! So everything had been imperfect until he decided to appear in our wedding? Brilliant!_

_That wolf was in love with Bella, what is he still doing here, then?_ Aro wondered, seeing the excitement with which Bella received Jacob, the day of _our_ wedding. Again, he seemed to push a button to move forward faster through the thoughts that didn't _work_ for him.

"_Where are we?"_

"_This is Isle Esme."_

"_Don't be afraid. We belong together."_

"_Forever."_

The next memories, were difficult for me to share, for me to keep still in front of Aro while he saw and heard every second of that night, while he understood what had happened and he tied loose ends, and every time he was more confident about Renesmee not being what they had believed through Irina's memory. It was hard, but I knew I had to let him continue watching inside my mind.

"_I mean, I don't know how it was for you, but it was like that for me."_

"_Is that what you're worried about? That I didn't enjoy myself?"_

"_I know it's not the same. You're not human. I just was trying to explain that, for a human, well, I can't imagine that life gets any better than that."_

"_I didn't dream that you would construe the way I feel about what I did to you to mean that last night wasn't… well, the best night of my existence. But I don't want to think of it that way, not when you were..."_

"_So you seduced your all-too-willing husband. That's not a capital offense."_

"_Well... I didn't hurt you, for one thing. It was easier this time, to control myself, to channel the excesses." His eyes flickered to the damaged frame again. "Maybe because I had a better idea of what to expect."_

_Impressive,_ Aro was thinking.

"_What? Are you trying to pass this illness off as PMS?"_

"_No. No, Edward. I'm trying to tell you that my period is five days late."_

_Impossible,_ Aro mumbled in his mind at the same time that he listened to Bella saying it in my memory.

"_He thinks you're pregnant."_

"_Morte."_

_Don't you dare touching a single hair of Bella, the baby will be born, you want it or not. Don't even try to stop it, I would bite your head off._ Rosalie's voice was the one who was sounding now.

"_Edward, he's_ our_ son. You must love him."_

"_Not when it's killing you."_

"_That's not true. We don't know how this pregnancy will be. Let's just wait and see how this advances."_

_I'd seen him angry, and I'd seen him arrogant, and once I'd seen him in pain. But this—this was_

_beyond agony._

Aro shuddered inwardly and very lightly when he saw my face through Jacob's mind.

"_We didn't know. never dreamed. There's never been anything like Bella and I before. How could we know that a human was able conceive a child with one of us—"_

"_I don't care about anything but keeping her alive. If it's a child she wants, she can have it. She can have half a dozen babies. Anything she wants. She can have puppies, if that's what it takes."_

"_I love you, Edward Cullen. Only you."_

_Mmm..._

_I could tell them exactly what it wanted: death and blood, blood and death._

"_We think the fetus might have an appetite closer to ours than to yours. We think it's_

_thirsty."_

"_Oh. Oh."_

_Mmm... pretty._ Aro showed a little level of confusion when he listened to that murmur in my mind, the first time that I had listened to Renesmee before she was born.

"_Holy crow, you can hear him!"_

"_Shh. You startled it... him."_

"_Sorry, baby."_

"_He loves you. He absolutely adores you."_

"_Renesmee,"_ Aro didn't know what to think anymore, Renesmee's face bathed in blood while I took her out of Bella's belly, was something he could barely believe, and just because he was seeing it as if he himself had been present that day.

"_My venom. Keep it moving."_

"_How did you hear what Renemsee wanted?"_

_"But Renesmee can put her thoughts into our minds, Edward. She only has to think what she wants and touch us, and we can see what she thinks."_

Aro was now more astounded than before.

"_You must remember that Renesmee developed and grew in less than two months. Maybe her growth will continue the same way until reaching some limit."_

"_You're going to stay away from our daughter. I don't want you close to her, do you understand? How you dare doing this? First Bella and now my daughter? You didn't have enough trying to take Bella away from me, and now you want to take Renesmee away from me?"_

_Imprinting, huh? I had never heard of such thing._

"_I love you."_

"_As I love you."_

"_I was out just two days?"_ by the time he was hearing and seeing this memory, Aro was almost as impressed as Bella had been that day. But he had already passed by those two days in my mind, and he had seen her growing up as I had seen her.

"_She's still growing quickly."_

"_Precisely. So the answer is no. I am purely full of joy, because I am missing nothing. No one has more than I do now."_

"_Charlie'll be here soon. Just a heads-up. I assume Alice is getting you sunglasses or something?"_

"_I don't know how much we should tell Renee about this."_

"_The Volturi."_

"_All of them."_

"_Yes. That makes sense, Emmett. All we need is for the Volturi to pause for one moment. Just long enough to listen."_

"_We'd need quite a show of witnesses."_

"_Hear me. "Renesmee is one of a kind. I am her father. Not her creator—her biological father."_

"_Bella is her biological mother. She conceived, carried, and gave birth to Renesmee while she was still human. It nearly killed her. I was hard-pressed to get enough venom into her heart to_

_save her."_

"_A very talented family. A mind reader for a father, a shield for a mother, and then whatever magic this extraordinary child has bewitched us with"_

"_And then, once the coven was all but destroyed, Aro would grant a pardon to one member whose thoughts, he would claim, were particularly repentant. Always, it would turn out that this vampire had the gift Aro had admired. Always, this person was given a place with the guard. The gifted vampire was won over quickly, always so grateful for the honor. There were no exceptions."_

"_Something Eleazar's never seen before. Something I've never heard of. Something that even your shield would do nothing against. He can actually influence the elements—earth, wind, water, and fire. True physical manipulation, no illusion of the mind. Benjamin's still experimenting with it, and Amun tries to mold him into a weapon. But you see how independent_

_Benjamin is. He won't be used."_

Aro was beyong shocked at this point, he was getting to the point of being scared of seeing everything that there was on our side, that could stop them or even beat them down.

"_It's a very straightforward illusion. She can make most people see whatever she wants them to see—see that, and nothing else. For example, right now I would appear to be alone in the middle of a rain forest. It's so clear I might possibly believe it, except for the fact that I can still feel you in my arms."_

_Something very similar to what Alec can do... and Kate is with you, very alike to what Jane does,_ Aro was thinking to himself, _but with Bella with them... would we lose? Is that possible?_

"_We've been waiting a millennium and a half for the Italian scum to be challenged. If there is any chance they will fall, we will be here to see it."_

"_Or even to help defeat them. If we think you have a chance of success."_

"_We fight,"_ the Rumanians spoke. _"We will fight, too,"_ now Benjamin's voice was sounding. _"Here's to freedom from oppression,"_ Garrett, _"And we fight with him,"_ Tanya's voice announced that her family would fight, _"The packs will fight with the Cullens,"_, "_I'm in, too,"_ Maggie announced.

_This has been... amazingly fascinating, young Edward,_ Aro opened his eyes, then, but kept my hand in his.

"You see?" I asked.

Aro was still marveled with the story he had just seen, his voice sounded calm, kind. "Yes, I see, indeed. I doubt whether any two among gods or mortals have ever seen quite so clearly."

There was an echo of 'What' from both groups, even the Volturi's witnesses.

"You have given me much to ponder, young friend. Much more than I expected," Aro said.

I saw what he now wanted, and even when it had been part of the plan, I didn't like having to do it more than what Bella had shown.

"May I meet her?"_ it would be an actual honor._ "I never dreamed of the existence of such a thing in all my centuries. What an addition to our histories!"

I didn't answer again, seeing that Caius had finally reacted.

"What is this about, Aro?"

"Something you've never dreamed of, my practical friend. Take a moment to ponder, for the justice we intended to deliver no longer applies."

_What?_ Caius hissed. _Oh! Of course, of course..._ his thoughts looked over the layers of strategy they had already prepared in case of their main reason for _giving_ justice couldn't no longer be used.

"Peace, brother," was everything Aro said. The guard, just like Caius were totally surprised with Aro's attitude.

"Will you introduce me to your daughter?"

Do I have an option? It's what we wanted, I thought.

_It is,_ Aro answered.

I nodded, then. But I wasn't going to make Bella bring Renesmee to this point, her shield had to keep protecting our friends, not just us. Besides it would be more convenient that the encounter were at the middle of the meadow.

Aro answered my thought. "I think a compromise on this one point is certainly acceptable, under the circumstance. We will meet in the middle."

Fine, I thought.

Aro released my hand, and I turned around back to my family and everyone else, Carlisle half-smiled, and though I couldn't listen to his thoughts, I could easily guess at them. Aro then put his arm around my shoulder, and we started to walk forward toward the middle, like we had agreed. Of course the guard got a little bit tense to such action. Following Aro, who quickly stopped them, raising a hand.

"Hold, my dear ones. Truly, they mean us no harm if we are peaceable."

_It does NOT matter! No! That's what they assure, but..._ the growls and hisses were everything I heard, and Aro was marveled.

"Master," Renata complained, scared.

"Don't fret, my love. All is well."

There was just one to calm them down. "Perhaps you should bring a few members of your guard with us," I said. "It will make them more comfortable."

_Wise observation, good._ He nodded, and then said. "Felix, Demetri," his fingers snapping twice.

In less than a second they were by Aro's side. And then we were in the middle of the meadow.

This was what we had been waiting for, so I called out for Bella with any more delay. "Bella, bring Renesmee... and a few friends."

I kept my eyes on Bella, and the fear was the most obvious emotion in her eyes, Renesmee's reflected the same one, but there was a tone of security when seeing me, too. A second passed, and we listened to Bella calling the ones who would come with her.

"Jacob? Emmett?" Bella said, just like I had expected her to. They both nodded when they heard their names, however, Emmett smiled with anticipation, I guessed.

While the four of them walked forward towards where we were, the Volturi guard started growling when they saw Jacob advancing toward Aro. They didn't trust him. Aro sent them to silence.

"Interesting company you keep," Demetri commented. I ignored him, and Jacob snarled.

When they stopped in front of us, but keeping a safe distance a few meters away, I got away from Aro to get on Bella's side and then I took her hand. We looked at each other's eyes for a moment, before Felix spoke to Bella.

"Hello again, Bella."

"Hey, Felix," Bella answered, with a little smile.

A chuckle escaped Felix. "You look good. Immortality suits you."

"Thanks so much."

"You're welcome. It's too bad..." Felix said, but he let his voice turned off, we all knew what he was talking about.

"Yes, too bad, isn't it?" Bella answered.

_At least you know it,_ Felix thought, winking at her.

Aro was marveled with Renesmee, his eyes were on her. "I hear her strange heart," he murmured, his head leaned aside. "I smell her strange scent," Then he turned his eyes to Bella. "In truth, young Bella, immortality does become you most extraordinarily," and he didn't say it just because of her appearance. "It is as if you were designed for this life."

Bella only nodded once, without saying anything about it.

"You liked my gift?" he asked suddenly, looking at the necklace in her neck.

_A gift?_ Jane wondered.

"It's beautiful, and very, very generous of you. Thank you. I probably should have sent a note."

Aro laughed. "It's just a little something I had lying around. I thought it might complement

your new face, and so it does."

Jane couldn't help it, and she hissed. Her envy apparent to everyone's eyes. Bella looked over Aro's shoulder, and of course, she noticed it was Jane who wasn't happy with such gift.

_Let's get back to the main matter,_ Aro thought, clearing his throat so Bella got her eyes back to him. "May I greet your daughter, lovely Bella?"

Walking forward with her, we only moved two steps towards Aro. His mind was in ecstasies again, by finding himself so close to Renesmee...

"But she's exquisite," he whispered, more charmed than before. "So like you and Edward," his voice got louder and was spoken to Renesmee. "Hello, Renesmee."

Immediately, without being sure of what to do, Renesmee turned to see Bella. _Mommy, what should I do?_ And Bella nodded encouraging her.

"Hello, Aro," she whispered in her unique voice.

Aro seemed to not find a point where he wouldn't get surprised anymore.

On the contrary, Caius was getting more upset. He knew very well Aro, and he asked, the tone of his voice made obvious his ire. "What is it?'

"Half mortal, half immortal," his eyes didn't stray from Renesmee. "Conceived so, and carried by this newborn while she was still human."

"Impossible," Caius murmured, he didn't believe what Aro said, or didn't want to believe it.

"Do you think they've fooled me, then, brother?" his tone was kind, but they both had their way of communication, and Caius knew that it made Aro upset such insinuation, so he only shuddered when he heard him. "Is the heartbeat you hear a trickery as well?"

Caius only frowned.

"Calmly and carefully, brother," Aro whispered, a smile directed to Renesmee. "I know well how you love your justice, but there is no justice in acting against this unique little one for her parentage," there was a very divided atmosphere in the meadow now listening to Aro. "And so much to learn, so much to learn! I know you don't have my enthusiasm for collecting histories, but be tolerant with me, brother, as I add a chapter that stuns me with its improbability. We came expecting only justice and the sadness of false friends, but look what we have gained instead! A new, bright knowledge of ourselves, our possibilities."

_It's time to listen to what they have to say,_ Aro decided, raising his hand towards Renesmee. Of course I should have expected it, but it surprised me a little bit, when instead of allowing Aro to touch her, Renesmee raised her hand to Aro's face. That was her way of sharing information. Aro just listened to what Renesmee wanted to show him, not everything he wanted, but was enough.

_Please, you're not hurting my family? My Mommy, my Daddy, Jake, everyone?_

His smile became huger when he was done seeing, and sighed. Satisfied with what he'd seen, it was enough to make a decision, but not enough as to satiate his curiosity. "Brilliant."

Renesmee relaxed a bit once she was done. Still she didn't know what answer she'd get.

She didn't have to worry about such thing, it was my job to take care of her, to ask for her to not be hurt. We weren't important while she were fine.

I didn't expect Aro to be honest, but his intention of lying to my daughter, bothered me.

"Of course I have no desire to harm your loved ones, precious Renesmee," Aro told her, his voice was kind. A lie.

I couldn't help my reaction, and trying to _avoid_ a growl or something worse, I grinded my teeth together. Behind us, Maggie was the only one to react. Her gift, though I couldn't read her mind right now, should have told her what we already knew: it's a lie.

"I wonder," Aro mumbled, looking now at Jacob and the way he seemed to be more tied to our family than just because of an _imprinting_. Even when he had seen what it was in my mind, he didn't completely understand it.

_Perhaps we will get more than good gifts now... they seem tame... who knows..._

"It doesn't work that way," I told him before he started to accommodate the pack in his guard.

"Just an errant thought," his eyes were still watching Jacob, and then the pack behind us.

"They don't belong to us, Aro. They don't follow our commands that way. They're here because they want to be."

_What is he talking about?_ Jacob wondered, just like everyone else.

And when he understood, Jacob growled. It wasn't hard to imagine the reason behind my explanation.

"They seem quite attached to you, though," Aro noticed. "And your young mate and your... family. Loyal."

"They're committed to protecting human life, Aro," I told him, without being able to prevent him from thinking the same way. "That makes them able to coexist with us, but hardly with you. Unless you're rethinking your lifestyle."

"Just an errant thought," Aro repeated, after laughing. "You well know how that is. We none of us can entirely control our subconscious desires."

_You still remember?_

I grimaced when I saw again _my_ memories in his mind. "I do know how that is. And I also know the difference between that kind of thought and the kind with a purpose behind it. It could never work, Aro."

Jacob turned to see me, then. A very low moan escaping from his muzzle. _What does he mean?_

"He's intrigued with the idea of..." they were going to react, in a not such good way. "guard dogs."

A silence passed before they comprehended what I had said, and then they started snarling wildly towards the vampires who were on the enemy side.

_You damn old parasite!_

_What do they think we are?_

_Silence!_ Sam ordered, and they did immediately.

"I suppose that answers the question," Aro mumbled, his smile filling the silence now. "This lot has picked its side."

_To die,_ Aro added in his mind. _They had their change to change sides like another few ones... they would have been useful._

That spilled the last drop.

I hissed, and then I leaned forward towards him, not even thinking about the consequences. It would be good to be able to finish him off at this right moment, causing the way, but stopping him... stopping the massacre that he was already planning on inflicting in our family, our friends. Bella got a hold of one of my arms, reminding me that I had to be calmed, and I did it a little bit. Felix and Demetri were also poised for attack, but Aro calmed them down with a flutter of his hands.

_Watch out, Edward..._ Felix threatened.

The three of us returned to our positions at the same time.

"So much to discuss. So much to decide. If you and your furry protector will excuse me, my dear Cullens, I must confer with my brothers."

This was what we had waited for. The time in which they made their show.

Even when the decision was already made.

If we didn't succeeded on this finishing peacefully with our arguments and witnesses, there would be destruction and acquisition as they had planned.

* * *

**And like I always tell you, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll be waiting to hear something from you!**

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	38. Chapter 37, CONTRIVANCES

**Hi, guys!**

**Finally, I know, a month later! Yeah, sorry, school's been driving me crazy... but well... we had the actual Breaking Dawn in theaters! Awesome, but for me it was almost like: Hey! I just sat down and now it's over! It was so quickly, but I loved it.**

**Charlie was missing, his main scene, when they tell him they're getting married. I wanted to see that one very badly, but well... what am I gonna do, right?**

**Thanks for your reviews and support, so here you have this one. Enjoy!**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

* * *

CHAPTER 37. Contrivances

As soon as Renesmee stopped touching Aro, I realized that I could listen to her thoughts, and not just hers, but Emmett's and Jacob's and everyone's behind us.

Bella had been able to project her shield much more beyond what I had an idea.

And Aro had no idea of how strong it was.

_I guess there's no need to move,_ Aro thought, raising his hand to give the signal to his guard and brothers to move towards where he was.

I took Bella's arm and pulled her with me behind. Emmett and Jacob also started to retreat with us, only Jacob did it a little bit slower, his fangs were at complete sight directly to Aro. His thoughts were upset. And Renesmee, when she noticed that Jacob seemed to be staying behind, took him by his tail, making him to follow us at our pace. The four of us kept our eyes on Aro while backing away, except for Renesmee. The guard was advancing at the same pace that us, and we reached our destinations at the same time.

_Everything fine?_

_Edward, what does Aro say?_

_What is happening now?_

They were all asking, and the thoughts of those who were by our side, I could hear them better than a few minutes ago.

I didn't answer, intent to what would follow in front of us. Caius didn't have any intention of keeping that conversation silently and quietly. He was too much upset as to keep himself cool in front of everyone at this moment.

So as soon as he was in front of Aro, Caius started.

Keeping his hands by his sides, he said, "How can you abide this infamy? Why do we stand here impotently in the face of such an outrageous crime, covered by such a ridiculous deception?"

_We're not going to convince Caius..._

_It's too bad it's not him who reads minds!_

Aro, on the other side, was trying to tranquilize his not so calmed brother. Marcus wasn't even part of such conversation, nor did he have the intention to be.

"Because it's all true," he told Caius. "Every word of it. See how many witnesses-" Caius shuddered slightly to that word. "-stand ready to give evidence that they have seen this miraculous child grow and mature in just the short time they've known her," his thoughts were remembering what he had seen in my mind. "That they have felt the warmth of the blood that pulses in her veins," his hand pointed first to Amun and then to Alistair at the other side of the line in front of them.

_So many witnesses... without being necessary, I've seen it all already, but..._

Caius began thinking again about their other strategies, even when he refused to put them into words. He wanted to finish off the Cullens for having broken this law, even when we actually hadn't.

I didn't have to turn around and see the _witnesses_ who they brought. If this didn't turn out as they wished, it would turn out much less the way they wanted to if they kept going with their illogical cases towards our group. They didn't have much that could be an excuse for a punishment, and they knew it. If their witnesses saw it all, it wouldn't be a yell of help towards the Volturi they would expand to the world.

_What is happening with the Volturi? Did they fool us?_

_Did they know that girl wasn't an immortal? What were they planning?_

_What's the crime they made? Why are they here?_

"What is going on now?" one of the vampires from that group was whispering to other mate.

"I have no idea. Everything's getting very, very strange."

Just like we could listen to them, the Volutir did with perfect clarity. They didn't like the idea of everyone knowing they weren't fulfilling their duty as everyone believed.

Caius frowned when he heard some of the whispers from the group that came with them.

_But there is indeed a reason to punish them. Those wolves! Of course, they know our _secret_, and the Cullens protect them, just like that newborn when she was still human..._

He didn't even have to say his thoughts out loud to Aro, to know that his accusation didn't have any sense now.

_Now what's next?_

I was grateful that the question were for herself, she wasn't looking for an answer. If Caius' mind kept going through that track, he wouldn't last long before getting to Irina.

"The werewolves," finally Caius murmured, beginning with the first strategy. If it could be called that way.

The pack reacted _calmly_ to the mention of them in all of this.

Their minds were another case.

Carlisle and the whole family remembered some words of Bella, _"We don't have to sentence the Quileutes to death, either, Emmett!"_

"Ah, brother..." Aro whispered.

_If you wouldn't have refused to tell me such thing in my mind, I would've warned you, now it's too late. What a shame._

_Now what? He seems to not want to punish them..._ Caius was thinking, more furious.

Carlisle, maybe, was the most anxious, and would keep that way. His worry didn't extend to only his family, but to all of our friends, allies, to everyone, and their lives. He had never wanted this to come to a fight, or a punishment to all the present ones.

_What is their plan? Punish us for not killing the werewolves? Bah!_ I heard Emmett.

Something like that, I answered to myself.

But it wouldn't be that way, anyway. Aro was much more analytical. And he knew, that in reality, there was nothing to punish for talking about the werewolves.

He had already read into my mind, that they actually weren't. That's why his reaction.

The way in which Caius was doing the things, weren't going to help much their plans of being seen nicely in front of their witnesses. But so far, he couldn't make Caius to shut up, and instead of voicing their strategies, to think of them so Aro could read them in his mind with just touching him again.

"Will you defend that alliance, too, Aro?" his voice sounded harsher. "The Children of the Moon have been our bitter enemies from the dawn of time. We have hunted them to near extinction in Europe and Asia. Yet Carlisle encourages a familiar relationship with this enormous infestation—no doubt in an attempt to overthrow us. The better to protect his warped lifestyle."

_What? In an attempt to overthrow them?_ Carlisle was shocked with the idea Caius had.

The only ones who were glad with the possibility of such idea, were the Rumanians.

_I wish it was true_. Vladimir was thinking.

_Their overthrown would come sooner, if it was._ Stefan completed, as it was usual.

But this was becoming ridiculous.

I cleared my throat loud enough as to get Caius' attention. Something that was not difficult, his furious look turned immediately to me.

Aro only put one of his hands on his face. _Let's hope he won't say any other stupidity._

"Caius, it's the middle of the day," I said, while I pointed out towards Jacob to make my point clear. "These are not Children of the Moon, clearly. They bear no relation to your enemies on the other side of the world."

"You breed mutants here," Caius answered to my words scornfully.

I held back a growl to his accusation, partly because of Carlisle. He didn't want this to turn into a fight before it was time. I wasn't going to waste my time trying to convince someone as close-minded as Caius, when I knew that Aro understood perfectly well what happened with the wolves here.

When I controlled myself, I told him. "They aren't even werewolves. Aro can tell you all about it if you don't believe me."

_We're not werewolves?_

_What is that mind-reading talking about?_

_So, what are we?_

The pack was as confused as all the presents, perhaps.

From Jacob, I looked at Bella turning to see him confused. Asking for an explanation to Jacob, and this one shrugging in response.

_I've no idea what you're talking about, Edward…_

"Dear Caius," Aro began. "I would have warned you not to press this point if you had told me your thoughts," in his mind, he was regretting seriously that he hadn't thought that way. "Though the creatures think of themselves as werewolves, they are not. The more accurate name for them would be shape-shifters. The choice of a wolf form was purely chance. It could have been a bear or a hawk or a panther when the first change was made. These creatures truly have nothing to do with the Children of the Moon. They have merely inherited this skill from their fathers. It's genetic—they do not continue their species by infecting others the way true werewolves do."

_Well, whatever… it doesn't matter they're not _werewolves_…_

Caius wouldn't give up that easily. But it didn't have any case to keep going with the argument of the werewolves and their involvement with this.

He glowered at him while he remembered how Aro seemed to having been by the wolves' side.

"They know our secret," Caius insisted with his new _strategy_.

I was going to answer, when I heard Aro thinking in a better answer.

He would explain why the _argument_ that Caius argued now, didn't have any sense.

"They are creatures of our supernatural world, brother. Perhaps even more dependent upon secrecy than we are; they can hardly expose us. Carefully, Caius. Specious allegations get us nowhere."

Caius reluctantly nodded after taking a breath to calm down.

The two of them looked at one another for a moment, thinking in what was what was coming now.

At these moments were when I wished I couldn't read other people's minds. Caius was thinking of Irina, and the punishment she would receive for having deceived them, even thought he was very well aware that it had not been a deception, that Irina truly had believed seeing an immortal child. But, of course, he didn't care about that at all.

This was going hard for Kate and Tanya, especially.

If it were solely Aro's decision, I was sure, there was no doubt in my mind, that he would forgive her, and would let her go alive, but it was Caius who was decided on making her pay, unless she accused the Cullens of another charge.

Something, that knowing Irina, wouldn't happen.

I paid attention to Irina's thoughts, her eyes were glued to the faces of her sisters, her mind was a riot. There was guilt and an intense sadness inside of her. She wanted to think about everything, except about her family being hurt or reduced because of her mistake. Tanya and Kate didn't see anything else more than their sister at the other side of the meadow, caught amongst the lines of the Volturi.

"I want to talk to the informant," Caius snarled, turning around to see Irina with rage. It was more than rage. He was furious about having found her accusation false, and having to be seen in the difficulty of finding something else to accuse us of... all due to a _mistake_.

_Tanya, Kate... Carmen, Eleazar... I hope you can all forgive me. Why did I do it? _What_ was I thinking?_ Irina was flooding in regret, now that she knew her mistake.

Eleazar sighed inwardly when he heard Caius, he knew him too well as to believe that Irina would come out of this as if nothing'd happened. He feared that it got something worse for her for having done what she did, even when she had done it unconsciously that it wasn't what she thought it was.

Tanya turned to see me from the corner of her eye.

_Edward?_

I turned the same way to her, keeping my focus the entire time on the Volturi.

_Please, tell me it's not what I'm fearing... that they won't-_ Tanya couldn't finish, and I couldn't answer her back. I just shrugged so lightly and quickly, that only she noticed.

When Irina didn't react when hearing Caius, his rage grew. "Irina."

This time, it was impossible to not listen to how she was being called to his presence again. She raised her eyes to him, who called her again, snapping his fingers.

With fear and hesitation, Irina moved forward toward Caius was calling her from.

When he had her in front of him, he told her, "So you appear to have been quite mistaken in your allegations."

_You're going to pay for your stupidity. Someone will be punished today, and it won't only be the Cullens._

Irina could barely concentrate on her sisters, who were leaned forward toward her anxiously, tense for seeing what it was that would happen to Irina.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to Caius. "I should have made sure of what I was seeing. But I had no idea..."

_Oh, Irina. This should not be happening,_ Carlisle thought suddenly, hoping very badly that Caius wouldn't do anything against her.

It was almost a hope in vain.

Aro decided to intervene, "Dear, Caius, could you expect her to guess to have guessed in an instant something so strange and impossible? Any of us would have made the same assumption."

_Like I care!_ Caius thought impatiently, then he snapped once again his fingers to Aro to shut up and let him continue with his new allegation against Irina, against us. He wouldn't really rest until having what he wanted.

At the end of matters, what did it matter if they didn't have a reason to punish us?

Alec _could_ incapacitate all of their witnesses so they wouldn't escape and spread what the Volturi had done here.

"We all know you made a mistake," he conceded, but in his voice was noticeable that he was losing his patience. "I meant to speak of your motivations."

Irina didn't answer, she was waiting for Caius to go on and explain what he meant.

I could see in her mind, how it _had_ been one of her motivations to go to Volterra and accuse us of such crime so we would get punished. She wanted revenge for Laurent... but deep down, too, she wished she had never gone to the Volturi, because she now understood that aside of having been a mistake, we were also her family, that was why Tanya and Kate were now by our side, waiting for the punishment to reach them the same way, if it was necessary.

She knew, now, that her place was on our side.

"My motivations?" Irina asked, nervously. I had an idea of what her answer would be.

"Yes, for coming to spy" – Irina shuddered when she heard that word. – "on them in the first place," Caius explained what he meant.

"You were unhappy with the Cullens, were you not?"

There was no refusing it. And what wouldn't make anything better for Irina.

Her eyes parted from Caius, turning to Carlisle.

It was very crystal clear, in her eyes, that she was begging Carlisle to forgive her for having put his family in such grave danger when going to the Volturi.

_Carlisle... I'm so, so sorry! I'll never be able to tell you._ Her thoughts changed towards me, for me to pass her messages on later. _Edward, tell him I'm sorry, and that I'll never forgive myself for what I did. I'm so sorry I was such a selfish person..._

"I was," Irina admitted after a moment.

Here it was coming the moment that Caius wished. Now I was seeing it more clearly, where he wanted to get, I could see that he didn't want a punishment for us, but for the informant.

"Because...?" Caius murmured, waiting for her answer.

Only our family and Tanya's knew such reason, and some of them were impressed when they heard that Irina was upset with the Cullens.

_She did it on purpose?_

_She put the Cullens in danger because...?_

_Please! All of this, for what?_

"Because the werewolves killed my friend. And the Cullens wouldn't stand aside to let me avenge him," Irina explained, wishing she wouldn't have had to.

"The shape-shifters," Aro whispered aside.

I knew I couldn't do anything.

I could yell at Irina, and ask her to not make any accusation against us; or on the contrary, that she did, so she could save her life.

Because it was _her_ life or _my_ daughter's. There was no doubt in my mind of how I should proceed.

""So the Cullens sided with the shape-shifters against our own kind—against the friend of a friend, even," Caius said, knowing that this was a reason any of the witnesses they brought would accept as enough to be punished.

Caius and Aro were satisfied with this argument.

_If that why? If that why she did this against you?_ Jacob was wondering, furious. _For killing that leech?_ He was going _to kill_ Bella.

Yes, that was her main reason. The motive that had taken her to Volterra.

Right now, I didn't feel much pity for the one who I once had loved as a cousin, who I had seen as I saw Tanya and Kate...

Laurent had been about to kill my Bella, and if the wolves hadn't saved her, killing him, she wouldn't now be with me here. If for me, they could have killed him right in front of Irina and I wouldn't have minded not even a bit.

I didn't know what disgusted me the more anymore, Irina or listening to Caius and his fierce desire of killing someone, as a punishment, of how the hoped that Irina wouldn't make such accusation, because he wanted to kill her right here and now. He didn't want Irina to press charges against us, they wouldn't find in their strategies list some other accusations to us against the Cullens. But now, what he wanted was Irina to pay for her mistake.

I realized, that I couldn't be happy with such punishment. Irina was still part of our family. The proof were Tanya and Kate, Carmen and Eleazar on our side yet.

It was too clear, everyone understood what was happening.

_No, Irina... I wish I could hope that they would forgive her, but I know Caius,_ Eleazar was thinking, anxiously on what was waiting for Irina.

"That's how I saw it," Irina accepted, her shoulders stiff.

Caius didn't say anything.

_Here we start, everything has got to go out well..._

_Caius, brother, what are you planning?_

She could make the accusation, and then they would have a reason to punish us, or she couldn't, and get the punishment herself.

At that moment, Caius wanted the punishment for Irina.

He wanted it so badly, that he could barely wait to see which would Irina's decision be.

"If you'd like to make a formal complaint against the shape-shifters—and the Cullens for supporting their actions—now would be the time," Caius smiled when he finished.

_A formal complaint? Against the Cullens?_ Irina was half confused.

Everyone else got tense, waiting for Irina's answer. according to them, it depended on her what would happen next.

They had no idea.

I couldn't even warn her from Caius' trick. It wouldn't have any sense.

_What's going to happen with her? Irina?_

But Irina regretted having brought the Volturi down on us without a real reason. And she believed that without being a reason to be here, they would leave.

"No," Irina said clearly.

And it was all Caius needed, he almost celebrated when he heard her refusing.

"I have no complaint against the wolves, or the Cullens," Irina continued. "You came here today to destroy an immortal child. No immortal child exists. This was my mistake, and I take full responsibility for it. But the Cullens are innocent, and you have no reason to still be here," she turned to see us, and to say, "I'm so sorry," and then she turned to see the witnesses the Volturi had brought. "There was no crime. There's no valid reason for you to continue here."

Before any of the witnesses, without minding which side they were on, had time to react or process Irina's words, Caius had already give the signal.

He had raised, while Irina was still speaking, a small lighter to the sight of their guard.

Afton, Corin and Santiago had advanced forward toward Irina before anyone knew what the signal meant, before Irina knew that her ending had come...

Before any one of us could try something to stop it. Not that it would have worked out somehow.

The three members of the guard in order to obey such order, surrounded Irina. Almost immediately the silence that had been our main characteristic in this short meeting, found itself being changed by the sound of metal being destroyed, by the sound of a vampire being ripped apart. Caius walked towards the remnants of Irina in the middle of the three guards to finish with her off finally, he lit her rests and the smoke and fire were the next thing we could see where before Irina had been standing.

_I guess those were her last words_, Caius thought gleefully.

Aro wasn't very content with the way things had turned out, _there must have been a better way._

Carlisle and Esme were horrified to what had just happened. They couldn't believe that Irina had really been murdered due to that error. Eleazar and Carmen were far of feeling the same way, but already there was this sadness creeping up on them.

Tanya and Kate still didn't seem to understand what had just happened. They were too shocked as to react.

As soon as Caius closed the lighter in his hand, a gasp was heard from amongst the Volturi's witnesses. They were so horrified with the resolution Caius has taken against Irina as any one of us were. The blind trust they had on the Volturi was being put in doubt with the behavior they were seeing now. They were beginning to doubt, and they didn't know what to think anymore. They had no idea of who was right.

I hadn't been paying intent attention on the thoughts that were surrounding me, but Renesmee was so close to me, that she seemed to be yelling them. I couldn't even turn around towards her, to calm her down, to assure her that she didn't have anything to be afraid of. What she had witnessed, had made her be afraid for us more than ever before, and now she was almost sure that Aro's words, had been a complete lie. She shuddered inwardly while she had listened to the sound of metal being ripped away and then the fire on Irina's body on the snow. I would have given everything for my daughter to never have to witness something like this, also I would have given everything for Bella to not see it either; but I could do nothing now. Just save her from such a horrible destiny.

Then Caius smiled in such a cold, hard way, that resembled his thoughts. "Now she has taken full responsibility for her actions."

His eyes looked over our line, stopping for only a second on Tanya and Kate.

I felt some kind of sick pleasure in what he'd done. He had been resenting Aro since he had conceded forgiveness to the three sisters, Tanya, Kate and Irina when they had come to punish and destroy their mother and the immortal child she had created without them knowing. That time ignorance had saved them; but this time, had killed them.

I regretted at this moment, more than ever, that I hadn't reached Irina that afternoon when Bella had seen her in the meadow, hadn't reached her after she had disappeared when seeing Renesmee and Jacob, and misunderstood what she saw.

If I had reached her, we wouldn't be here, and Irina wouldn't be dead. Tanya and her family wouldn't be crying over their sister's death.

Seeing that in their minds, I read how they changed from horror to sadness to fury...

"Stop them!" I shouted at the same time that I threw myself at Tanya to prevent her from doing some stupidity. Her mind was too clouded with rage to reason correctly.

_I'll kill him. I swear, I'll kill him..._

_Tanya, don't!_ Carlisle yelled inwardly while he took Tanya from her waist before she could try to make me release her and keep going forward.

Everyone, now, were seeing how we tried to stop the sisters.

"It's too late to help her," Carlisle was whispering to Tanya, trying to make her go into her senses. His voice didn't sound as calm as it was the usual, due to his anxiety. "Don't give him what he wants!"

Tanya was still trying to get free from us, she wasn't listening to anything around her. Carlisle's words seemed to not register in her mind.

By our side, Rosalie had tried to stop Kate, being the closest to her, but she had thrown her to the ground in the same second that her hands had tried to force Kate to stay where she was. I listened the silent scream in Rosalie's mind when she felt the electrical current that ran through her body when she touched Kate.

I could barely understand what I was seeing in their mind, it was complete chaos.

But while I saw Emmett taking Kate from her arm and then succeeding on throwing her to the ground, I heard Caius and Aro, something that I hadn't seen in their minds before.

This had been something more than _punishing_ Irina. They had done that to cause this reaction in Tanya and Kate, thinking it would be difficult to stop them, and the fight would start, the perfect excuse to finish off our group...

Emmett on the ground, distracted me enough. They weren't going to get what they wanted.

Garrett launched himself to Kate when she got on her feet again, and tried to advanced towards the Volturi, her mind just as chaotic as Tanya's was. He managed to throw her on the ground, and having felt the power of Kate before, he could resist her current for a little bit longer than anyone else.

"Zafrina," I yelled again.

Understanding what I meant, _right away_, she thought, and blinded Tanya and Kate immediately.

I returned my attention to the Volturi, releasing Tanya. Our positions, of most of us, was once again poised to what we were seeing.

My mind, more calmed now, could listen carefully to what Caius and Aro were thinking.

While Kate complained instead of screaming, when she couldn't see absolutely anything in front of her, Tanya was hissing. "Give me my sight back."

_It's all controlled, Edward... though it'll be difficult to get Kate to stop even without seeing_, Zafrina told me.

_Give me my sight back?_ Caius was wondering what Tanya meant with those words. Aro was the only one who knew which were the gifts we had on our side. Aro had been watching with absolute concentration to what was happening on this side of the line.

He had seen the way Kate could throw any vampire down. Even when he had already seen it in my mind, it was different to see it by himself, to see everything that he had seen in my memories was beyond true, that the gifts they had as their best weapons, find themselves in danger in front of ours. With Zafrina and Kate, their twins would be reduced without any resistance, with Bella's help.

Garrett stopped feeling the current that Kate was inflicting on him all of a sudden. Even when both were still inside of Bella's shield.

Mmm...

Garrett didn't have time to think about that, he just felt relieved.

But, how? I could read Kate's mind, and the desperation she was feeling by not being able to get Garrett off her.

Had Bella protected Garrett, putting her shield around only him?

"If I let you up, will you knock me down again, Katie?" Garrett asked her, hesitating on what he should do.

Kate's mind was still a chaos, the only thing that was on his mind was a desire almost uncontrolled of being freed and getting to Caius to unleash her fury on him, and Garrett was on her way. Just thinking about that, made her want to knock him down a thousand times if necessary. A fierce growl was the answer Garrett got.

_Kate, Tanya!_ Esme was sobbing, while she saw them still battling to get free from Garrett and Carlisle.

Carlisle decided to intervene. "Listen to me, Tanya, Kate," his voice was barely a whisper, one the Volturi couldn't listen. Still, they kept a nice level of decision. "Vengeance doesn't help her now. Irina wouldn't want you to waste your lives this way. Think about what you're doing. If you attack them, we all die."

Keeping the entire time my eyes on the Volturi, that every time they thought more about what they would do to get their goals achieved, while they cowered back at the same time, when they saw Bella and her shield.

Garrett and Carlisle were the only ones who weren't on guard, consoling Kate and Tanya respectively. There was absolutely anything at these moments, that could make Tanya and Kate feel better. Carmen and Eleazar felt awful, but their pain was better controlled at this precise moment. Focused on what we had in front of us, wishing that this all ended quickly, so they would be able to be by their sides.

Aro, passed quickly onto the excuse he wanted to give to _his_ witnesses for Caius's decision about Irina. Although his eyes never left Garrett and Kate; he was impressed by seeing the way Garrett had endured Kate's gift for a moment, while he still shuddered, and then, stopping. He was sure that it had been Bella's shield, what else? He thought. It was impossible that Garrett had developed his own shield.

The guard was watching every one of our movements, believing, like Caius had believed, that with Irina's death, we would attack. Their positions were no longer those of calm, they were poised to attack at the first sign or movement against them from our side.

The only one who knew and was sure that it wouldn't happen such thing, was Aro. He had seen that our last wish was to start a fight.

From the witnesses that the Volturi had brought, any of their faces now, showed ire or disapproving to us. They were still confused, thinking and wondering if the Volturi had really come to punish the Cullens for that reason they had accused us of, that of creating an immortal child.

_Caius, you have only made this harder than before... _Aro was thinking while he turned to see the-now-confused witnesses from his side.

Caius' plan had turned out wrong. Terribly wrong, according to Aro.

"Did he really believe it? Did he really believe they would attack?" Stefan asked, between happy and disappointed.

_It would have been the better, they attacked them, but they have been very clear. They don't want to fight._

"That's what it seems. Look how upset it Aro that things hadn't turned out that way," Vladimir answered.

I stopped listening to their little conversation. There were more important things.

To continue with their goal, Aro put his hand on Caius' shoulder, and announced. "Irina has been punished for bearing false witness against this child," Tanya and Kate seemed to be looking red to everything in front of them, especially Aro right this moment.

_False witness? She didn't even have idea it was a _lie_, you damned._

Kate was far from disagreeing with her sister.

_That's what they punished her for?_

_I don't understand how they could decide to give her such punishment, without even..._

"Perhaps we should return to the matter at hand?" Aro finished.

_Well_, Caius thought while he straightened up and looked away. He wasn't happy with Aro's words. _Let's see if you do better..._

Aro walked forward, with Renata, Felix and Demetri behind each of his steps.

_Master, please..._ Renata was nervously thinking.

Here it came the part we all had been waiting for, the one we wanted to indeed happen, the one we had gathered together all the possible friends for.

It wasn't going to be easy, not remotely. Aro was willing to find a _but_ to the witnesses.

"Just to be thorough," Aro whispered to us. "I'd like to speak with a few of your witnesses. Procedure, you know."

Caius knew perfectly well that Aro would listen to what they had to say some of our witnesses, but would never take into account, absolutely anything of what he heard. He would look into every one of the words they said for something that gave him the perfect excuse to finish with this display once and for all.

I hissed, without being completely aware of what I was doing.

Everyone put their attentions on me for a second, when they heard me.

_Daddy?_ I listened to Renesmee, her thoughts were so worried and anxious that it was impossible for me to not calm down before her.

Everyone else, were also wondering the reason of my reaction.

The smile on Caius' face was difficult to ignore, even more when I could listen to the reason behind it in his mind. The satisfaction he felt by being sure that Aro would get a negative response from our side, so they would finally achieve their goal.

Right now, he wished more than anything, to destroy. He didn't care if Aro didn't acquire what he wanted.

Alice wasn't here, anyway.

Aro started advancing towards our line, with Amun and Kebi in mind.

He had chosen well who would their first witnesses be; he had read in my mind how they weren't totally on our side. But I, also had read in Amun's mind, and wouldn't lie about it, he didn't have to, nor how to. Aro could know with just touching him. Whether it was true or a lie his witness.

_Only the truth_, Amun was thinking while he saw Aro stopping in front of him and Kebi, to a few ten meters away from each other.

The wolves reacted to such close and undesirable companion.

"Ah, Amun, my southern neighbor!" Aro exclaimed, as if he was really happy to see him. "It has been so long since you've visited me."

Amun wasn't sure of how to answer to that. He knew that Aro had already seen in my mind the reason he had to not visit him, not before nor after. But, now, what was the point of lying?

It didn't matter, of course, but that didn't take not even a bit of anxiety off.

Kebi by his side, was as still as a statue. Thinking almost the same thing that Amun was.

"Time means little; I never notice its passing," Amun finally answered to him, his lips kept still, too.

_I can agree to that... but if it were only for that._ Aro thought.

"So true," Aro said, his thoughts passing onto the real reason for Amun to keep a considerable distance. "But maybe you had another reason to stay away?"

Amun, of course, didn't answer anything to that.

He considered it a waste of time. What did he do those comments for, if he already knew the answer to such?

Benjamin and Tia on the other side, got anxious, too.

Though they didn't completely agree with Amun, they couldn't help tensing when they imagined what was going through Aro's mind when saying that. What could he want now, that he knew Amun had kept Benjamin in secret.

"It can be terribly time-consuming to organize newcomers into a coven," Aro whispered, thinking of Benjamin. "I know that well! I'm grateful I have others to deal with the tedium. I'm glad your new additions have fit in so well. I would have loved to have been introduced. I'm sure you were meaning to come to see me soon."

Without being sure if Aro would ask him for the proof of his witness and see if his words were real right now, he decided to take the risk.

Benjamin was anxious about his friend.

"Of course," he answered dryly.

"O, well, we're all together now! Isn't it lovely?" Aro asked.

This time, Amun just nodded.

There wasn't much he could say. And what to do it for? If Aro wanted to believe that all the presents, or rather, he, was happy to be here, he was very wrong.

Of course, Aro didn't believe such thing.

Aro's thoughts came back to the matter at hand, as he had put it moments before.

"But the reason for your presence here is not as pleasant, unfortunately," Aro whispered. "Carlisle called on you to witness?"

"Yes."

"And what did you witness for him?" Aro asked, a little bit anxious he himself right now. Though such emotion wasn't noticeable neither in his voice nor his expression. Yet.

Aro was already beginning to prepare an argument against us before Amun answered. But knowing that I could read his thoughts, he controlled them in a too perfect way, to I couldn't see completely what he was planning on arguing.

He knew what Amun's answer would be, anyway.

Amun kept his expression and tone emotionless. "I've observed the child in question. It was evident almost immediately that she was not an immortal child—"

Aro interrupted him, to lightly correct him. "Perhaps we should define our terminology," he said while he thought on the new discovery, as he considered it. "now that there seem to be new classifications. By immortal child, you mean of course a human child who had been bitten and thus transformed into a vampire."

_Of course I meant that…_ Amun thought, a bit upset.

"Yes," Amun said. "that's what I meant."

"What else did you observe about the child?" Aro asked.

"The same things that you surely saw in Edward's mind. That the child is his biologically. That she grows. That she learns," Amun answered to Aro.

_That is not all, sure. Let's see what else he's got to tell._ Aro thought.

"Yes, yes," he whispered. "But specifically in your few weeks here, what did you see?"

Amun wasn't the only one confused about Aro's question. He didn't understand exactly what was it he wanted to listen, not only to give him an answer he wanted, but to also stick to the truth he had seen. He wasn't going to lie.

The closest he got to the question Aro was waiting for to ask, the more I could see which were the arguments he would use against us.

It wouldn't be easy to convince their witnesses, now, that Renesmee was dangerous.

He himself didn't believe it, completely. But he had doubts.

Amun's forehead wrinkled, and then he answered. "That she grows… quickly?"

Aro smiled at him.

I knew that the next question would cause no such good or _quiet_ reactions from our witnesses, and family, even _their_ witnesses.

"And do you believe that she should be allowed to live?" Aro asked.

_What? That is not _my_ decision,_ Amun thought desperately.

I heard Bella hissing as soon as the question came out of Aro. And it didn't surprise me.

It provoke me to rip his head off just for considering taking away my daughter's live. But it wasn't good to lose control. Not at these moments. I didn't want to give him another reason to finish off our family.

_It's just a baby,_ Jacob thought, _how can he think of killing her? I'll just kill him myself if he gets any closer to her…_

_Kill her? What damage can that little girl do?_

Aro didn't turn to see anyone, his eyes focused on Amun.

The hiss wasn't coming only from our line. Some the witnesses that the Volturi had brought, had reacted, too.

Like us, now, didn't see any reason for the Volturi to still be here.

Worried about Bella, and Renesmee who was terrified at these moments about Aro and his words, I took a step back towards them, and took Bella by her wrist.

Amun looked to his sides, and then answered. "I did not come to make judgments."

_Of course not, that is our job,_ Aro thought while smiling.

"Just your opinion," Aro insisted.

_This could get me in trouble with the Volturi, but I cannot lie, Edward…_ Amun commented, his thoughts were directed towards Renesmee and everything he had watched during this month he had been in our house. He knew, like everyone else, that Renesmee was truly dangerous as the immortal children had been.

"I see no danger in the child," Amun assured. "She learns even more swiftly than she grows."

Aro nodded.

_For now, but later? We cannot be sure, can we? There has never been anything similar to this lovely child…_ Aro was musing.

All the presents, except for the Volturi Guard and Caius and Marcus, and even some of the witnesses from their side, were considering the idea that the Volturi were now, only looking for an excuse to still be here.

And they were.

Aro kept thinking on which would his next arguments be. But he still had to listen to a few more witnesses from our line.

_I will not leave until achieving my goal… Alice is not here, but others are!_

Perhaps I would be grateful for all eternity for Alice, for having left when she had the opportunity. I didn't want to see her slaved to a life of service. She deserved more than that.

_What is he thinking now?_

_What's Aro planning? This isn't good._

_Whatever it is we're facing against, they'll have to fight to get what they want._

_I don't understand what he wants. The child isn't dangerous._

_Why are we still here?_

_That child isn't safe, something wrong must have for Aro to still not decide to leave._

The thoughts in the meadow were a complete mix of everything.

Fears, insecurities, doubts, decision, suspicions. And Aro seemed to not notice it for the moment. His only thought: keep going with the _judge_.

At the end, Aro turned around.

_No, wait!_ Amun exclaimed.

"Aro?"

Aro turned around again towards the calling. Curious. He was expecting Amun to want to give him something useful.

"Yes, friend?" Aro said when he saw him.

"I gave my witness," Amun announced, and Aro knew that there wasn't anything else useful for him. "I have no more business here. My mate and I would like to take our leave now."

_And why not?_ Aro thought.

He smiled at him, and then said.. "Of course. I'm so glad we were able to chat for a bit. And I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

_Of course, now that you know about Benjamin. I knew this would happen..._ Amun was thinking while he nodded once to Aro's words. Yes, he would probably see him again, but he also knew that Benjamin, willingly, would never join the Volturi.

_Good luck, Edward,_ Amun wished us while they disappeared.

He appreciated Carlisle enough, as to wish him this to end fine.

Benjamin wasn't surprised that Amun hadn't asked him and Tia to take off with him and Kebi, he had already told him before. He would stay by Carlisle's side, because it was the right thing.

Speaking of the right thing, I reminded myself, I put attention on the thoughts of Maggie for a moment, remembering that she would know if the Volturi lied or not.

_What else are they going to make up now? Caius already did his part, now Aro,_ Maggie was thinking.

No surprise there.

Aro started moving around again, with Siobhan in his mind.

When he stopped in front of her, he greeted her warmly.

I wasn't sure how he managed such control over his mind, over his words, how he managed to look friendly, when he wasn't.

"Hello, dear Siobhan," Aro said. "You are as lovely as ever."

Without feeling like following lead of the false friendly words of Aro, Siobhan only leaned her head down. Waiting for Aro to ask for her witness once and for all. Only that she wanted, that there wouldn't be anything else needed to end this.

At that moment, though she didn't believe it was really a gift, she listened to Carlisle's words.

She was just saying, _this meeting will not jump to be a fight, it'll remain quiet_, repeatedly.

"And you? Would you answer my questions the same way Amun has?" Aro asked.

"I would," Siobhan answered him. Already thinking on which her answer would be, and the little Amun had said when he had his chance. "But I would perhaps add a little more. Renesmee understands the limitations. She's no danger to humans—she blends in better than we do. She poses no threat of exposure."

Aro had already prepared, too, his answer while he listened to Siobhan.

Up until that moment, I hadn't noticed _how_ decided was he on finding a reason to keep on with this show, to convince his witnesses that we deserved, not a punishment anymore, but to go ahead with his goal of finishing off... Renesmee.

"Can you think of none?" Aro whispered.

I growled, listening to the thoughts of both, Aro and Caius.

It was exasperating to find myself tied behind our defense line to wait for them to make a decision, when at this moment, the only thing I wanted was to finish them off. With the _threat_ they were to Renesmee. When I heard how he was planning on presenting his argument to trick his own witnesses, to have the perfect excuse to finish off my daughter. To see how Caius' eyes brightened with anticipation, how he imagined the time in which he would destroy, not only Renesmee, but each one and all of the members of our family. How, finally, they would get rid of the Cullens. And not only of us, but of all the present ones.

It was more than I could take.

Everything I was seeing was Aro, like a target I should finish off.

I didn't even notice that Garrett had moved away from Kate until Siobhan spoke, making me take control over myself again.

"I don't think I follow you," Siobhan told him.

_Mmm_, Aro was thinking, _let's see what they say now,_ while he advanced back towards his guard. Only Renata, Feliz and Demetri were following close by.

_Now what's he planning to say?_ Some of them were wondering, confused.

Other ones were already suspecting that it would be a try to give themselves a point for continuing with this.

Aro finally announced, what was the absolute truth. "There is no broken law."

I would have liked to sigh with relief, if it hadn't been because I knew that it wasn't all; if I hadn't known, too, what was coming.

_At least they accept it_, Carlisle thought.

Garrett didn't see his words as something good, _but? There's always one._

Renesmee was tense behind Bella, just like Jacob was by her side. The two of them knew perfectly well, now my daughter the same way, that they wouldn't go in peace easily. I would've wanted to assure Renesmee that everything would go okay, that she'd be safe, but I couldn't.

Because right now, that seemed almost impossible.

"No broken law," Aro repeated. "However,"

_I knew it, it was obvious it wouldn't end here._

_It couldn't be that simple._

_They'll leave when they've found the perfect excuse to destroy us._

"Does it follow then that there is no danger? No," Aro continued, shaking his head. "That is a separate issue."

Quickly, Maggie yelled in her mind, _Liar!_ While she shook her head when she heard him.

_Well,_ she told me later, _now you know he'll look for whatever it is, for as fool as it is..._

Maggie and all of our witnesses were, with some exceptions, growing upset with each word that Aro said, his lies and made-ups, especially his stubbornness on finding a reason to still be here.

I didn't have to read his mind to know that it was worth it to continue with his lie.

But at the same time, he wasn't prepared for our whole world to know the truth about them.

He started walking, while he thought about the way of putting his thoughts into words, the best way to convince the ones here that _they_ were right.

Still, he was conscious that at these moments, it wouldn't be as easy as they once had thought it would be. He knew that their witnesses, now, weren't so sure about them doing their job. They didn't understand what was the crime they were still here for. Their reason had been _not_ forgiving Irina. That had unleashed the suspicion on them.

_How to tell it? How?_ Aro was still wondering. His steps taking him back to his guard.

Better prevent than regret...

After a moment, Aro spoke again. "She is unique… utterly, impossibly unique. Such a waste it would be, to destroy something so lovely. Especially when we could learn so much..." then he sighed, before continuing. Something he hated, missing an opportunity of learning about our kind, a new capacity that they had had no idea was possible. Of _studying_ someone like Renesmee. But he also knew, that that would never happen.

As if Bella and I were going to permit it!

"But there is danger," Aro continued. "danger that cannot simply be ignored."

_What the hell is he talking about? This little _charming_ girl is a danger?_

_Please!_

No one said anything, just like Aro with his new argument.

"How ironic it is that as the humans advance, as their faith in science grows and controls their world, the more free we are from discovery. Yet, as we become ever more uninhibited by their disbelief in the supernatural, they become strong enough in their technologies that, if they wished, they could actually pose a threat to us, even destroy some of us."

Everyone understood, and accepted what Aro was saying, but they didn't _understand_ the reason for his speech, what did it have to do with Renesmee and his reason for still being here.

But they knew well, that it would take him to a point.

Something that would assure it was a _good_ reason to take matters into Renesmee's issue.

"For thousands and thousands of years," Aro kept on. "our secrecy has been more a matter of convenience, of ease, than of actual safety."

His words were taking him to what could be a good reason to take care of Renesmee.

I gritted my teeth to not let a growl get out.

_What is he trying to say now?_

_He's up to something, and it won't be very good..._

"This last raw, angry century has given birth to weapons of such power that they endanger even immortals. Now our status as mere myth in truth protects us from these weak creatures we hunt."

"This amazing child," Aro kept speaking, raising his hand now and placing it palm down, as if he could touch Renesmee. As if _that_ was going to be allowed to him again. "if we could but know her potential—know with absolute certainty that she could always remain shrouded within the obscurity that protects us."

If I could have, I would've made him shut up right now.

To use our own doubts against us, was... I could barely control the instinct of keeping myself quiet in the place I was.

"But we know nothing of what she will become! Her own parents are plagued by fears of her future."

We didn't even knew if Renesmee would live like an immortal, or would die like a mortal and Aro wanted to shorten her life.

"We cannot know what she will grow to be," Aro ended his speech at last.

_I should've imagined it would be something like this..._

_Can't they wait for her to grow up? See it by themselves if there'll be a danger._

I turned to my side and see from the corner of my eye. See it for themselves?

Ha!

I would never, ever allow the Volturi, much less Aro to take care of watching Renesmee and wait if there was a danger or not. I knew perfectly well that she wouldn't. renesmee could never be a danger for anyone.

How could she?

If she had understood the bad from the good before she was even _born_.

And Aro knew it, he had seen it in my mind. Of course, that wasn't something he were going to mention to his witnesses. His target was to convince them of continuing with his goal.

That they weren't doing any injustice here.

Aro spoke again, his eyes on the witnesses. "Only the known is safe. Only the known is

tolerable. The unknown is… a vulnerability."

I heard Maggie, though I really didn't have the absolute need of doing it.

There was a small tone of truth in his words, but the most part, Maggie felt it, was a lie. In his trying to convince everyone that _that_ was the truth.

_What else are they going to make up?_ Garrett thought enraged.

Caius was delighted of having heard Aro. He had known, since he had started speaking, that he would make it, at least, confuse his witnesses, and then convince them that they were right. That they were only fulfilling their deed here: to keep in secret our existence. That there was nothing else that mattered to them. But it wasn't working completely. As I myself had thought, a lot thought more convincing to wait and see her grow up, and then decide...

"You're reaching, Aro," Carlisle murmured, his tone was bleak. He was so upset like any member of our family was about what he was saying.

"Peace, friend," Aro assured, as if that was what he really wanted now.

And despite what he was planning, it was almost incredible to see in his mind that he wanted everything to be as it was before finishing all this.

_Everything's a big lie. He's coming here with wishes of peace, when he wants war._

Garrett was the only one who wasn't impressed with the way in which Aro was handling the situation. It was usual in Aro to assure that he only wanted the wellbeing of our kind, when their targets always, _always_ were other ones.

Of course, this wouldn't be the time in which their show would be exposed.

Or would it?

"Let us not be hasty," Aro whispered. "Let us look at this from every side."

Garrett had in mind a big speech, directed towards the witnesses of the Volturi. It could work, leave them even more confused, or that they finally realized of the reality with our _leaders_. They weren't, but that was what they wished the _most_.

_Let's see what they do, when their witnesses know the liars they are…_ Garrett thought, sure that it would be that way.

"May I offer a side to be considered?" he asked, while he took a step forward.

_What are you going to, Garrett?_ Kate was wondering anxiously.

Kate wasn't the only one who was wondering what it was that Garrett was plotting, but perhaps she was the only one who was anxious about what he would say, and the reaction it would cause in the Volturi.

_If this doesn't convince them, I don't what will,_ Garrett was thinking, hoping that Aro conceded him a moment to offer that side he was talking about. The Volturi weren't going to like at all to listen to what Garrett had to say.

Aro nodded, _let's see what he has. It can't hurt._

"Nomad," he whispered, agreeing with Garrett's request.

But the speech he had prepared, wasn't directed towards the Volturi. His looked went from Aro to the witnesses they'd brought, resting on two of them especially: Makenna and Charles.

Then I saw the reason of his choice.

Charles had a very particular gift, almost as particular as Maggie's. there was a very subtle difference between what they both could do. But both had the gift of knowing when they were being lied to and when they weren't.

I was sure that Maggie's gift was more powerful, more defined. But Charles also knew it.

"I came here at Carlisle's request, as the others, to witness," Garrett started. His thoughts quickly moving onto the next part. "That is certainly no longer necessary, with regard to the child. We all see what she is.

_Yes, yes, we already know that…_ Aro thought impatiently.

My lips twitched ever so slightly that anyone could have noticed that it was a smile.

Perhaps there _was_ an opportunity of convincing the Volturi's witnesses that they weren't right, and that they weren't here only with the purpose of imposing the law on us.

_And?_ I heard Caius and his dark tone.

"I stayed to witness something else. You," he said while he pointed towards Makenna and Charles amongst the Volturi's witnesses. They both shuddered lightly when they were stood up amongst the rest. "Two of you I know—Makenna, Charles—and I can see that many of you others are also wanderers, roamers like myself. Answering to none. Think carefully on what I tell you now."

Aro seemed to be having a good time, a _little_, with what Garrett was saying.

That bothered me. It was as he were a hundred percent sure that nothing of what any of us could say, would make them look wrong to them. Or more than wrong, convincing everyone else, that they were liars.

Garrett continued. "These ancient ones did not come here for justice as they told you."

_What?_

_Then, why would've they come?_

_Mmm, he's not lying._

_Do they really believe that?_

We suspected as much, and now it has been proved," Garrett said. "They came, misled, but with a valid excuse for their action. Witness now as they seek flimsy excuses to continue their true mission."

_True mission?_

"Witness them struggle to find a justification for their true purpose—to destroy this family here," then he pointed towards Carlisle and Tanya. Two families that were already only one. They had already destroyed Irina, and they wanted to keep going with Renesmee's destruction.

That the Volturi's witnesses knew perfectly well.

And while they were listening to Garrett, they were noticing how what he said, coincided with what was happening.

_They know!_ Caius was thinking, enraged more than worried.

After all, what was it they had to fear of exactly?

It didn't matter right now the answer. Only Aro, probably, was afraid of something at these moments, and it was that his reputation were destroyed. Caius cared the less about that. And Marcus, he didn't even seem to be interested in what was happening.

The three of them were here for different reasons. It impressed me that they could agree on only one thing.

"The Volturi come to erase what they perceive as the competition. Perhaps, like me, you look at this clan's golden eyes and marvel. They are difficult to understand, it's true. But the ancient ones look and see something besides their strange choice. They see power."

"I have witnessed the bonds within this family—I say family and not coven."

_Family?_

_What's he talking about?_

"These strange golden-eyed ones deny their very natures. But in return have they found something worth even more, perhaps, than mere gratification of desire? I've made a little study of them in my time here, and it seems to me that intrinsic to this intense family binding—that which makes them possible at all—is the peaceful character of this life of sacrifice. There is no aggression here like we all saw in the large southern clans that grew and diminished so quickly in their wild feuds. There is no thought for domination. And Aro knows this better than I do."

I didn't have to turn around to see Aro to know what expression would be on his face.

He had millennia of practice in controlling his emotions, so carefully that nobody would believe that he was worried about what he was listening to. That only made it seem like he didn't worry, because what he was hearing wasn't really the truth, nothing that could affect them.

But inside of his mind, without being able to hide it completely, it was there. The fear of all the hearings to _believe_.

Still, he wouldn't stop Garrett. That'd be confirming what he was saying.

_This could kill us,_ I heard Siobhan worrying.

_Are they listening to him?_

_Would it work somehow what Garrett's saying?_

From our line, the doubts and a little bit of fear made up the atmosphere of our side. But it wasn't all that different than how the other side felt, either.

The more Garrett spoke, the more they seemed to hear more than truth in his words.

_He's telling the truth, that's why they think; and Aro hasn't been very honest…_ Charles was already beginning to doubt almost completely of Aro and his true intentions.

"Carlisle assured us all, when he told us what was coming," Garrett. "that he did not call us here to fight. These witnesses," he then pointed towards Siobhan and Liam only now, who had exclaimed they didn't want under any situation, to fight. "agreed to give evidence, to slow the Volturi advance with their presence so that Carlisle would get the chance to present his case."

How could they doubt, if what Garrett was saying, agreed perfectly with what had been happening?

Of course, there were those ones who believed almost unconditionally in the Volturi. But the seed of doubt was seeping into their minds.

"But some of us wondered" he whispered, his eyes moving abruptly towards Eleazar. I could see in his mind a conversation between them a few days ago. "if Carlisle having truth on his side would be enough to stop the so-called justice."

_And it seems like we were right, _Eleazar thought. He had already known since before. Since the day they had arrived to our house and we had explained to them what was about to happen. It had been weird since the instant in which he had listened that all the guard and even the wives were coming to _punish _us for the crime they thought we had committed. It had been almost obvious, even Alice had known. And that had given us more information through Eleazar.

How quickly he'd thought that Aro was coming to acquire instead of punishing!

What other explanation was there?

"Are the Volturi here to protect the safety of our secrecy, or to protect their own power?" Garrett asked. "Did they come to destroy an illegal creation, or a way of life? Could they be satisfied when the danger turned out to be no more than a misunderstanding? Or would they push the issue without the excuse of justice?"

"We have the answer to all these questions. We heard it in Aro's lying words—we have one with a gift of knowing such things for certain—and we see it now in Caius's eager smile. Their guard is just a mindless weapon, a tool in their masters' quest for domination."

"So now," Garrett continued, with more confidence that the Volturi's witnesses were accepting the truth in his words. "there are more questions, questions that you must answer. Who rules you, nomads? Do you answer to someone's will besides your own? Are you free to choose your path, or will the Volturi decide how you will live?"

Garrett had been decided on which band he would be in when he knew what the Volturi were plotting, and even more, when he'd seen how they punished Kate's sister without a real cause.

"I came to witness. I stay to fight. The Volturi care nothing for the death of the child. They seek the death of our free will."

Garrett's words had worked just as he hoped. Just as they should.

Most of the Volturi's witnesses were almost convinced that Garrett had only said the truth. Because we didn't really have a reason to lie to them. And instead, the Volturi, did have it. They knew it.

Whn he was finished, Garrett turned towards the Volturi again, and exclaimed. "So come, I say! Let's hear no more lying rationalizations. Be honest in your intents as we will be honest in ours. We will defend our freedom. You will or will not attack it. Choose now, and let these witnesses see the true issue debated here."

Garrett turned to see once again the Volturi's witnesses, searching for some evidence that they believed him. "You might consider joining us. If you think the Volturi will let you live to tell this tale, you are mistaken. We may all be destroyed," he shrugged. "but then again, maybe not. Perhaps we are on more equal footing than they know. Perhaps the Volturi have finally met their match. I promise you this, though—if we fall, so do you."

_It's the best I could do, let's hope to see what reaction it causes, _Garrett thought while he returned to Kate's side.

Kate sighed with relief in her inside when she saw that he had finally finished his long speech, and then she tensed when she saw him getting in his position of attack. Everyone expected this to be reason of attack from the Volturi. But Aro wasn't as fool as to order such thing right this moment.

"A very pretty speech," Aro said, smiling. "my revolutionary friend."

"Revolutionary?" Garrett growled, still poised to attack. "Who am I revolting against, might I ask? Are you my king? Do you wish me to call you master, too, like your sycophantic guard?"

_Wrong word,_ Aro conceded in his mind.

"Peace, Garrett," Aro whispered, trying to let him be right. "I meant only to refer to your time of birth. Still a patriot, I see."

_Yeah, right,_ Garrett answered in his mind, his furious look on Aro and his hypocrisy.

Now he knew he had to take into account his witnesses, after the argument that Garrett had declared just a few seconds ago.

"Let us ask our witnesses," Aro said, with Charles and Makenna in mind. He didn't believe they were the best choices for what he could already see they were thinking. It wasn't good for _them_, all the opposite for us. "Let us hear their thoughts before we make our decision. Tell us, friends," then he turned towards his witnesses, who more than ever, wished they were able to leave this place before it was impossible to do. "what do you think of all this? I can assure you the child is not what we feared. Do we take the risk and let the child live? Do we put our world in jeopardy to preserve their family intact? Or does earnest Garrett have the right of it? Will you join them in a fight against our sudden quest for dominion?"

Aro was beginning to feel slightly nervous, but not enough as to take them away confidence.

All the witnesses were looking at Aro, without allowing any emotion to show on their expressions. Only one of them, Makenna turned to see her mate, Charles instead of Aro.

_Charles will tell me if Aro is lying now or not…_ Makenna was thinking while she turned towards Aro.

"Are those our only choices? Agree with you, or fight against you?" Makenna asked.

"Of course not, most charming Makenna," Aro answered, his tone showed surprise and almost terror to such option given to him. "You may go in peace, of course, as Amun did, even if you disagree with the council's decision."

Makenna turned to see Charles for an answer.

They were so connected, that both knew the answer they wanted to which question. So Charles nodded, and Makenna understood.

"We did not come here for a fight," Makenna said, stopping for a moment to exhale. She knew that she had to say what she was thinking, but that didn't make it less frightening for her. "We came here to witness. And our witness is that this condemned family is innocent. Everything that Garrett claimed is the truth."

"Ah," Aro exclaimed, the tone of his voice was sad. His thoughts, not so much. "I'm sorry you see us in that way. But such is the nature of our work."

"It is not what I feel," Charles spoke this time. "but what I feel." it was obvious that he was nervous about speaking what he thought, worried about the reaction it would cause on Aro. "Garrett said they have ways of knowing lies. I, too, know when I am hearing the truth, and when I am not."

"Do not fear us, friend Charles," Aro murmured. "No doubt the patriot truly believes what he says," he chuckled when remembering it.

But Charles had listened to the lie in his words. Aro couldn't lie without being discovered to his eyes, like with Maggie. His eyes narrowed.

"That is our witness. We're leaving now," Makenna announced, and they both retreated slowly with Aro's eyes on them the whole time, until they could no longer be seen. At the same time, another one of them started retreating. After all of them, three more of the witnesses left the meadow.

Aro knew that none of the witnesses that were left in the meadow, would be willing to fight by his side as at first they had been.

Of course, it was different with his entire guard. He came back to them slowly, and then he stopped in front of the guard. His eyes were on Chelsea, who already knew what was coming, and what it was she had to do now that Aro started speaking. It wasn't the first time she would do this.

"We are outnumbered, dearest ones," Aro whispered, his voice was _sweet_. "We can expect no outside help. Should we leave this question undecided to save ourselves?"

There was not even a second of hesitation in the answer of the guard. "No, master."

"Is the protection of our world worth perhaps the loss of some of our number?"

"Yes. We are not afraid," all and each one of the members whispered at the same time.

_Just like I expected, just like it will be…_ Aro smile when he heard them, then he turned towards Caius and Marcus.

"Brothers, there is much to consider here," Aro said.

"Let us counsel," Caius murmured with enthusiasm and exasperation. He was desperate to finish with this once and for all. Marcus responded the same way that Caius, but his tone of voice was all the contrary. Then they held hands to form a triangle of silence communication.

I was paying my entire attention to what was happening in their minds, when I listened to Bella whispering to Renesmee, now in her arms. "Remember what I told you?"

"_In our hearts we'll always be together,"_ Bella's voice sounded in Renesmee's mind, and it was the part I had stopped listening before. _"But when the time comes today, you have to leave me."_

Renesmee didn't understand why Bella was telling her that, she placed her hand on her cheek and asked.

"_Will you do it for me? Please?"_

Renesmee asked again the reason of her words.

"_I can't tell you. But you'll understand soon. I promise,"_ Bella assured her, her face filled with a sadness that I'd never seen before. Ever.

Then Jacob's face appeared on Renesmee's mind.

Bella nodded, and took Renesmee's hand away from her cheek. _"Don't think of it,"_ she asked her to, whispering in her ear. _"Don't tell Jacob until I tell you to run, okay?"_

At this moment, all the missing pieces from my puzzle, fell into place.

This was what Bella had been hiding from me. All her silences, her nerves were taking form, they now had sense. I couldn't believe I hadn't understood before! And I was grateful I hadn't. Aro would know now what Bella planned the escape of our daughter before they could hurt or destroy her.

Alice, the note, Bella's book, burning it, the use of the computer, her mysterious outings, all had a purpose now.

Alice had known that only Bella could achieve this, with her hidden thoughts from me, and so hidden from Aro, too. It was the only opportunity we had. Did this mean we had no hope of walking out of this peacefully?

I couldn't care right now.

Tears were falling down Renesmee's cheeks by knowing she had to leave us. "I love you," her mother whispered, thinking it would be the last time.

_What is this? What's happening?_ Jacob was wondering while he also saw the two of them.

"I love you, too," Bella whispered back to our daughter, touching the small locket Renesmee was wearing. "More than my own life," and then she kissed her little forehead.

Jacob seemed to understand, like everyone else, what was happening. A whimper escaped his mouth. And then Bella stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "Wait until they're totally distracted, then run with her. Get as far from this place as you possibly can. When you've gone as far as you can on foot, she has what you need to get you in the air."

I couldn't listen to anyone else, who wasn't Renesmee at this instant. And it it'd been possible, to Bella either.

I didn't want, more than not being able, to think that this would be the last time that I would see my little girl, that I wouldn't be able to hug her, or to listen to her wonderful laugh, that I would listen to her call and tell me "Daddy" again, that I wouldn't spoil her again…

Feeling the same way, Renesmee turned to see me and stretched her arms out for me to take her in mine.

_Daddy!_ Renesmee was thinking while I hugged her tightly.

"This is what you kept from me?" I asked Bella looking her from over Renesmee's head.

"From Aro," Bella barely whispered.

"Alice?"

Bella only nodded, confirming what I had already guessed.

_I love you, Daddy. Forever,_ Renesmee thought while she still was in my arms.

Then we both heard Jacob growling, his teeth were exposed while he got enraged about what was happening. For what would happen thanks to the Volturi. He didn't want to be separated from our family, and much less to have to take Renesmee away from her family, to save her while we stayed behind to be destroyed. But he knew he had to do it.

"I love you, too," I whispered after I kissed her forehead and both her cheeks. It was painful, to just get her away from me to place her on Jacob, to let her go.

Once on Jacob, Bella whispered to Jacob again.

His eyes were on her, he listened intently and sadly to what Bella had to tell him. "You're the only one we could ever trust her with. If you didn't love her so much, I could never bear this. I know you can protect her, Jacob."

_And I will, Bells, I will. I swear, _Jacob thought to Bella, and then to me, _You know that she'll be safe, Edward. I will never allow for anything bad to happen to her._

Jacob kept whimpering, and then he hit his mouth against Bella's shoulder.

_This sucks, I don't know if I can… Bells…_

"I know," Bella told him. "I love you, too, Jake. You'll always be my best man."

_Yeah, I love you too…_ he thought, while his eyes produced tears. There was no way of preventing the crying in this situation.

Now I knew better, to consider the words of Bella with another meaning. And there was no way of denying what Jacob was in reality in our lives, in my live. There wasn't more truth than that. I had never truly hated him, much less now. As Bella had said, he was the only one we could trust Renesmee with.

I leaned my head to his shoulder, and whispered. "Goodbye, Jacob, my brother… my son."

_Ed… Ed… Edward…_ Jacob stuttered when he heard me. But he didn't have to say anything. I knew well what he felt.

With his eyes on the Volturi, Carlisle murmured. "Is there no hope, then?"

_While Renesmee makes it, son, _Carlisle thought, _it'll be worth dying._

"There is absolutely hope," it was Bella who answered, her voice confident. "I only know my own fate," when she said it, I took her hand. I didn't have to ask her to know that in her fate I was included, like she was in mine. This time, we would leave together.

Esme moved towards Carlisle to quickly take his hand, touching our faces as she walked by.

Everyone else started with promises of love and farewells around us, but I didn't listen to anything. My mind was concentrated again on what was happening in front of us, amongst the Volturi.

_Aro, you know that that child isn't a danger _now_. Perhaps we can come back in the future and confirm our doubts. If the child turns out to be truly dangerous for our secret, she will be destroyed…_ Marcus was thinking.

_Let's destroy her right now, what are we waiting for?_ Caius was anxious to finish with the Cullens and allies.

But Aro knew, that with Bella on our side, it would be difficult to achieve such thing.

His fear would be materialized soon.

Jane knew the moment in which they should start to act while the Volturi kept on with their _counseling_.

She smiled enthusiastically, while she started to exert her gift in us.

_Well, get ready… a little pain isn't bad. Ha!_

She started focusing on Siobhan and Liam, on the edges of our line, but nothing happened. Bella felt, surely, the pressure of the power of Jane, because she quickly announced it.

"Get ready," she whispered to us all. "It's starting."

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**So, what do you think? You liked it?**

**I'll be waiting for your reviews. And we'll read each other on the next chapter. Only two more left.**


	39. Chapter 38, POWER

**Hi everyone!**

**FINALLY! I know, I'm finally back with the next chapter, which is almost the end, but not quite, we still have some more interesting things to read at the end, like Edward being able to see inside Bella's mind at last, right?**

**I really hope you're still with me after so much time, I know it took me long enough, but I gave my explanation on that note that was here, and then school got in my way and other stuff, so yeah...**

**ENJOY, and wait for the final chapter, I'll try to make sure to not make you wait more than a month, what do you say!**

**STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT!**

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CHAPTER 38. Power

I knew perfectly well what was coming now.

While Aro, Caius and Marcus kept going on with their silent mode of communication and pretending they were making an impartial decision about what they should do now, the members of their guard would start using their gifts to disband our group and leave us immobile in front of them, to then fulfill with the purpose they came here with.

Aro believed that Bella's shield wasn't _that_ powerful as to keep all the kinds of gifts they had on their side. Even when Eleazar thought it could.

Or he thought that his vampires would find a hole in her shield.

But right now, Jane had already her first attempt against Bella, and nothing had happened. None of the vampires that were on our side had been a victim of her gift. So for the moment, everyone was a little confident on that Bella's shield would resist, even against Alec.

_She didn't absolutely nothing against it,_ Eleazar was impressed despite of having believed so since the beginning.

Jane had tried it once again, her eyes looking to each of the witnesses that were on the edges of our line.

But again, with no visible result.

The minds of everyone remained free of any kind of pain Jane was capable of flooding with.

The members of the guard were a little bit astonished, but not to the point of being scared. Jane was only the first one on the row, there was still Alec amongst them, and Chelsea. But with what I was seeing, and had seen before, I was sure that none of them would be able to do something against Bella.

The Volturi, though at any moment showed any signs of anxiety or nerves when they saw we were still standing in front of them, waiting, were hesitating now, too.

But like their guard, they knew that Alec and his gift could be more effective than Jane's.

It was something that even Jane knew, and she didn't like it at all. She wouldn't rest until seeing that her gift had effect on any one of the ones we were under Bella's protection.

_We only have to wait for Alec to immobilize them…_ Caius was thinking while Aro read everyone he had to tell him. Caius felt confident, not having seen how strong or what Bella's shield repelled in my memories, that it was just a matter of time before all of this matter was finished, and they could finally leave here, with their purpose achieved.

Aro wasn't saying anything, he was only listening to what his _brothers_ had to tell him for now.

Marcus, on the other side, didn't agree as much with Caiu's thoughts. _The girl doesn't seem dangerous to me, so…_ he hadn't come here to destroy our family for another reason that wasn't we breaking a law. He had come here, too, with them to acquire; yes, but not because that was something he wanted.

Acquisition had been a fervent desire of Aro since the moment he had read for the first time my mind in Volterra, since he had seen Alice's face and known what it was she could do.

To know the future, before it happened. It was something that he had longed for from the same instant.

He had been so disappointed on having entered the meadow and not having seen anywhere Alice, on having seen in my mind she had abandoned us since she had seen that they would come for, and still now, still he was between the disappointment and frustration for missing the opportunity to take Alice to him.

But now he saw Bella, and saw me, saw Zafrina and Benjamin, and he seemed to be receiving more in exchange for only Alice. If he won this, he would _win_ more than he had imagined.

Nevertheless, also he knew that none of us was willing to join the rows of the Volturi. Not now not tomorrow, not never.

I observed every small thought that was passing through their minds, especially that of Aro.

After all, the decision that counted, was his.

Carlisle and Esme were praying almost for everything to turn out well for our side, their thoughts were going from imagining about what the Volturi might be speaking if to Renesmee in Jacob's loin, waiting for an opportunity to escape if it got to that point, to the farewells that they had been witnesses of a few minutes ago scarcely, to the high risk that they knew our family and all the friends who had remained to our side were in, and they had affirmed to be with us until the end.

Benjamin and Zafrina were probably the only ones at this moment, that they were in position of attack, observing every small movement in the guard that indicated them the time to use their gifts against them while they could.

_Edward, only you can give us an advanced warning..._ _if they decided to attack, _Benjamin spoke to me in certain moment, _they will not take us by surprise with you._

I agreed slowly, my eyes in the dark triangle in front of us.

Jane was the only one, till now, that had tried to get through Bella's shield, and clearly she had failed.

She was furious, and her look scarcely was sufficient to reflect all the ire and the hatred that was coming from her towards only Bella. I felt the strong impulse of putting myself between Bella and Jane's look. Just reading all the hatred that there was in her mind directed only to my Bella, was enough in order that I felt goose bumps, if possible. It was impressive how someone, alive or dead, could retain so many rage in her system.

I was be fervently grateful with anything that was the failure in Bella's brain, which had caused this immunity that now was protecting her. Even when it was putting her in the list of Aro and his goals or wished gifts.

What was wrong with Aro?

He was very conscious of the fact that none of us would join his guard, if it wasn't for obligation, and very surely, Chelsea wasn't going to be able to influence us, even if Bella was not here.

"She cannot reach us here," Randall commented under his breath, surprised. One thing it had been to see amongst ourselves how Bella's shield worked, and a very different one to see it working against the gifts of Jane, for now. " It's impressive."

"What is happening now?" Carlisle asked, a barely audible murmur, even for us.

"At any time Chelsea will try to separate us," I warned her, while I saw the next target in Jane's mind.

The majority of the witnesses, exempting our family, knew that it wouldn't be useful at all. Not only because of Bella's shield, of course that wasn't anything that Eleazar or anybody else of us had explained before to all of them.

Nonetheless, only Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, and Tanya's family knew that we were safe against Chelsea.

_To separate us?_

_Will this shield be sufficient?_

_What does he mean with that?_

_What's he talking about?_

The wolves behind us, they also were wondering what I meant with what I had said. But they, less than anybody, had to be afraid that the gift of Chelsea had some effect on them and their bindings. They were more bonded together than vampires were, and so strongly as we could be.

Carlisle agreed, only. There was no more worry apart from the one that already was filling us.

Eleazar calmed the Irish coven, which had become nervous.

"Don't worry, behind Bella, nothing will happen," Eleazar assured them.

"How can you be so sure?" Siobhan was who asked, but didn't get an answer from Eleazar, Maggie was who spoke.

"He's telling the truth."

"I don't doubt it. But…"

"The bindings that bind us together are very different from the ones she's capable of breaking, Siobhan. Really, don't worry," Eleazar assured her once again, and this time, they calmed down.

Jane put her eyes on Maggie, her new target.

Bella slightly squeezed my hand, and I knew that Jane's gift had already touched Bella's shield, and she hadn't been able to get through it. Maggie was still standing, next to Siobhan and Liam. Her mind free of the pain Jane was capable of making her believe she was suffering.

_Damn you, damn you Bella Cullen,_ Jane was thinking of Bella.

My eyes narrowed in her direction for a few seconds, but my mind kept on listening more intently to _her_ thoughts and the _Volturi's_.

_I'll get through her,_ Jane thought, almost a threat while she found my eyes on her.

Then the confused thoughts of the other members of the guard were there. They had seen before how before no one had succumbed to the effects of Jane's gift, and now neither I nor anyone else, seemed to be affected by her.

_Hasn't she started?_

_Why doesn't Jane try to immobilize one of them?_

_What is she waiting?_

And, Chelsea, believing that Jane wasn't trying absolutely nothing at all against us, searched for our bindings, the ones that kept us bound together as one, yet. But, of course, she didn't seem to find anything at all… but beyond not feeling our bindings, she felt nothing, as if no one were standing in front of her. She could feel no even one of us. Not even those that could have left our line without her help.

It was impressive to see her getting desperate by not finding anything in front of her.

_Why don't I feel them? They're in front of me, and it seemed like there were no one… what's happening?_ Chelsea was wondering, trying.

"Chelsea is trying to break our bindings," I let them know after a few seconds. "But she can't find them. She can't feel us here…"

Was really Bella doing that?

Her shield had reached up to the line of witnesses and family that they were leaving behind her and Renesmee, Jacob and Emmett when they got to where Aro and his guard were waiting to meet Renesmee. It had been little less than fifty meters, probably, and I had still been able to listen to the thoughts of our witnesses when I had been once again under Bella's shield.

Was her shield more powerful than before? And I hadn't even noticed? Aro hadn't even noticed. But would notice, soon.

"Are you doing that?" I asked Bella, my eyes on her.

Bella smiled, and there was something macabre about her. "I am all over this."

I looked into Jane's mind to her next target, there was an edge to her thoughts while she looked at Carlisle and focused completely on his face and in achieving that this time her gift had the wished effect on the vampire in her mind.

Without releasing Bella's hand, I stretched out towards Carlisle's direction. Jane watching my movement.

Before I could reach him, I felt Bella's hand tensing ever so lightly – that I wasn't sure if she was conscious of such – around my hand.

"Carlisle? Are you alright?" I said, without avoiding my voice to come out gasping.

_Carlisle!_ Esme exclaimed when she heard me, worried.

"Yes," Carlisle answered, and Esme and everyone else breathed out in relief. I felt Bella relaxing a bit her hand in mine. "Why?"

"Jane," I said, while I listened to her name making echo in the mind of Jane herself, and other targets in her mind.

Of course this time I had the certainty that nothing would happen.

All of our fears and doubts, of whether Bella's shield would endure Jane's gift when she practiced with Zafrina, had been left behind. She was proving that Jane couldn't get through the shield for as much as she tried, and I was sure that Alec or no one else would be able to.

While Bella were standing, they would be in disadvantage. Aro was finally accepting this fact, and fearing it as he never had imagined he would.

Caius and Marcus were unaware of what was _really_ happening. Believing, both, that none of the members of the guard had tried something against our group, yet. They didn't know how wrong they were.

"Incredible," I whispered, several things in my mind that caused such reaction.

A thought crossed Tanya's mind, and for a few second she mused over it before putting her doubt into words.

Eleazar was watching the movements of the Volturi, too, knowing what to wait. This wasn't a new and strange scene to him, he had seen this already several time before in the past. He had been part of it.

I focused on Aro for a second, and there wasn't much to know.

He knew it. He knew that what he had seen in my mind, had not been everything, that I hadn't known up to what point Bella's shield was powerful, that what he had seen wasn't nothing compared to the reality. A pang of terror coursed through him while he listened to what was happening around him. He knew that to this point, _we_ should already have been immobilized by the powers of Jane and Alec, and Chelsea; and still, we were all still standing, waiting for them to finish with their façade.

He wasn't sure of what it was they should do. Just waiting for their last hope: Alec. Who hasn't tried with his gift so far against Bella's shield.

"Why aren't they waiting for the decision?" Tanya finally asked.

_They're supposed to do it,_ she thought hesitantly, _aren't they?_

Eleazar looked at her from the corner of his eye, _don't you all remember what we said? They won't do what's supposed to be _right.

"Normal procedure," I answered her while I also heard Eleazar.

They won't what's supposed to be right… No, they wouldn't, unless they were forced to do it. But the guard was willing to die if it was necessary for their masters, they had already said so. Chelsea had them pretty well bound.

"They usually incapacitate those on trial so they can't escape," I finished explained her.

_And they can't with us?_

Some of them were thinking excitedly to the idea of being immune against Jane's and Alec's gifts.

Since the Volturi had included them in their ranks, they had never lost a battle. Not that they had lost it before. But by having them, it was impossible that someone could face them without their lives ending right at that moment. They didn't even need Jane really, she could barely hurt one vampire or _human_ at the time, and Alec a whole group. They just used her to punish and make suffer to someone who had broken a law. It was the only action Jane had amongst the guard. To punish and make suffer. That's why everyone respected and feared her so much.

Aro wasn't happy of knowing that until now that they couldn't do easily against Bella. He wasn't sure what Bella's shield repelled.

Only mental attacks, or physical's too?

And while they didn't know the answer, he had no idea of how they should proceed.

Some members of the guard, like Felix and Demetri, neither know if they could attack any one of us physically. They had all already noticed there was a shield between them and us. It wasn't hard to imagine.

_What the hell? It can't be… no… a shield?_ Jane was thinking while I could see Bella in her mind.

I turned to see Bella, who was staring straight at Jane, a glow of mock in her eyes while she looked at her across the meadow.

I worried, because of Jane's reaction, but, what damage could she do to her if her gift had no effect?

At least, I would never allow her to get close to her, and that left her with nothing.

Anyway, I would have warned Bella of not doing anything that encouraged her, but it was too late, I had turned to see Jane at the same time that I saw Bella in her mind showing a huge smug grin.

Of course, that caused a reaction in Jane.

Her eyes narrowed, _Let's see if you keep on resisting for much longer…_ she thought at the same time that she directed her gift towards Bella, straight to her; and with no effect once again.

I couldn't help worrying, not even if we walked out of this nicely.

Every time I saw Bella in danger of being hurt, whether it was physically or mentally, my worry would alight inside of me. It was something natural, or more than that, something automatic. I didn't even force on thinking, it simply appeared.

But seeing Bella again smiling more hugely to Jane, I knew her gift didn't work.

Only after seeing Bella still standing, I could feel certain relief. And stop worrying for the moment, because Bella were going to be hurt.

_DAMN IT!_

But, of course, at this moment, not being able to do anything against Bella, was the drop that spilled the water. And Jane could no longer hide her fury.

Having to release her rage somehow, she let out an uncontrolled scream, that at the same time was a growl. In her mind was only one goal, more than a goal to release her gift in the mind of this, that it wasn't possible, now she knew. If it wasn't that way, she would do it another more effective way probably, she thought.

_Jane?_

_What's wrong with her?_

Everyone present, except for the Volturi, jumped startled and surprised when they heard and saw Jane reacting that way.

Eleazar could imagine pretty easily the reason behind her growling.

The Volturi only raised their faces towards Jane, to see what was happening. Not very interested, really. Aro, just like everyone else, knew why Jane was acting that way. Caius only watched her with a little bit of rage when he saw her so uncontrolled; and Marcus, didn't seem to care.

The three of them turned back to their counseling, ignoring what was happening around.

Or pretending they were doing it.

While we saw how Alec took Jane by her arm, restricting her, I was listening to the joyful thoughts that now the Rumanians had when they saw how things were going.

They were going exactly how they wanted them to. It couldn't be, not even if they had planned it.

_I'll tear you to shreds,_ Jane was raging, seeing at Bella.

Then Alec, _Jane, please, calm down,_ he was thinking while he didn't allow her to attack. _Maybe you gift doesn't have an effect, it works differently, but mine…_

The Rumanians, seemed to already see in front of them the confrontation they had so waited for.

Both, Stefan and Vladimir, started to chuckle, their thoughts were rejoicing to the possibility of finally the Volturi being defeated. From which, now, they had no doubt of happening. Seeing Bella repelling Jane with her shield.

"I told you this was our time," Vladimir whispered, speaking to Stefan.

"Just look at the witch's face," Stefan answered, while he saw the enraged face of Jane.

The two of them were enjoying of this moment. They were the only ones here, that truly, felt something more than anxiety.

And they _did_ feel it, but for this to turn into a fight, finally.

Eleazar knew what coming now.

Just like everyone else did.

Alec patted a bit on Jane's shoulders, trying to calm her down before starting to do his thing. Jane barely controlled herself under Alec's gesture towards her. Nothing could do it, until he saw us all burning down. I could see clearly in her mind, how she enjoyed, before time, of such image. And right now, she didn't care if the fire was only inside our minds, or in the exterior, under Alec's anesthetic influence.

_Get ready_, I heard Alec thinking while he turned to look at us.

Jane was more serene, more confident that Alec would be able to achieve what she couldn't, at least.

Eleazar, the Rumanians and I, were – probably – the first ones to see coming the barely visible mist creeping towards us.

_Here we'll know if were are completely safe under Bella's shield, Edward,_ he told me while we kept watching at the mist advancing slowly up to where we were waiting to see what happened.

Zafrina and Benjamin were also ready for whatever it came. They knew that Bella would try to protect them the longest she could, and so that way they could use their gifts against Alec and everyone else.

Aro didn't turn, but he was intent on everything that was happening between his guard and our group.

And he wasn't very happy of knowing that the gifts of his best weapons didn't cause any harm among any of us.

Instead, Caius and Marcus were still not conscious of Bella having a shield that protected us.

It wouldn't take them long to notice, either.

_At any moment_, Eleazar was whispering, his eyes still on the mist. His hand tightened around Carmen's hand.

The Irish coven was the next one noticing the mist. At first they didn't understand what that mist was creeping up over the ground slowly, so slowly that it got you desperate a little bit, that it got you goose bumps without knowing what effect would it cause, without having any idea of if it would get through the – until now – very efficient Bella's shield.

_What is it? What's happening?_

_Is he attacking?_

While I was listening to the wolves intently for the first time since we had left Renesmee on Jacob's back, I felt Bella holding my hand, squeezing it. I could feel the anxiety from her.

"Are you okay?" her voice sounded almost choked, the worry was obvious in her tone.

The first thing I imagined, was that she thought that her shield hadn't had any effect against Alec, and that we might had already been affected by him. I felt that in her voice. But she didn't have anything to worry about, we were all alright.

"Yes," I assured her.

And then her worry spoke. "Is Alec trying?"

Nodding, I told her, "His gift is slower than Jane's. It creeps. It will touch us in a few seconds."

Bella didn't say anything, but her eyes searched in front of her.

I couldn't see her expression when she found what she was looking for, my eyes returned to the mist, my mind listening with clarity to what Alec and Jane, and the Volturi were thinking.

In Alec's and Jane's minds, obviously, there was a huge expectation, up to the point of emotion when they saw the mist getting closer to us. The guard was poised, prepared to receive the orders they already knew when they saw us immobile in front of them. Just like Alec and Jane, they had no idea of how strong or what it was that Bella's shield repelled. They were not even sure it was hers, but when they saw her smiling that way at Jane, they had decided that it was her who had the power of holding Jane out of our minds.

_It's getting closer…_

Rosalie thought suddenly of Alice and Jasper, wishing they had been here. Jasper's gift would have been very useful to us.

And I had to agree with her in that.

If Jasper would have been here, and next to Bella's shield, he would have made the Volturi believe they didn't want to fight, that they wanted peace, even if it were for a mere seconds, only enough time to escape with Renesmee without the danger of them being followed the same second they took off running away. He could save her.

I frowned.

Yes, very useful, but not real. Neither Jasper nor Alice were here.

I kept listening to Aro, mostly. He was the one who would make the decisive decision. The three of them had already very clear what they would say. And whom I didn't have to worry about from a long while ago, was Marcus. Caius was another matter.

But Aro was closer to think like Marcus than like Caius.

I heard Siobhan now, following Carlisle's advice. Wishing that the mist he saw creeping towards us, didn't get through Bella's shield.

But that wasn't how Carlisle thought her gift worked.

That didn't depend on anyone's wish, that Bella's shield were resistant or not to certain gift from the immortals that we had ahead.

Still, I wished she made it.

Benjamin finally saw the mist, that now was getting much closer to us.

_Could I stop it?_ He wondered while he quickly considered what to do against it, to prove his question.

Before a second passed, Benjamin was already making the snow react against the mist. Wind blew its way, the snow raised with an earsplitting sound from the ground. I had known what it would happen before the snow hit the mist, Alec's gift was as unstoppable by something physical as Jane's was. The snow only showed the exact place where it was to those who hadn't seen it. Nothing happened, it didn't even looked like touched.

_Damn it!_ Benjamin complained when he saw that he didn't get the wanted outcome.

Amongst the members of our line, were also reactions.

_It's a shame it didn't do anything against it._

_Oh, nothing happened._

_Will it stop against the shield?_

_Edward?_ Carlisle was wondering, trying to guess what was happening, how were things going now.

But I didn't have time to respond.

The Volturi guard had also reacted to what they were seeing in front of their eyes. Like Caius and Marcus, none of them had any idea of what it was Benjamin or anyone else could do.

They were shocked with the image in front of them.

_What…?_

_The snow just rose against the…_

_Who did that?_

_They have more than a shield._

Their thoughts were amazed, even surprised, but never afraid.

The Volturi hadn't turned around to see when Benjamin had tried something the first time. But when he tried something else, they couldn't help raising their looks.

_What is that noise?_ Caius was wondering while he looked up.

Aro had some idea of what could be happening and who was causing it. But still, he couldn't help being so surprised he couldn't hide it.

Caius' and Aro's eyes almost bugged out of their sockets when they saw how a huge hole opened up in a zigzag shape on the ground just underneath the unstoppable mist creeping without stopping for any moment towards us. At the same time, we all felt how the earth where it opened up, shook underneath our feet; I heard Renesmee holding tighter to Jacob's fur when she felt the sudden movement. But, curiously, she was scared. As if she had been expecting such thing to happen any moment. The snow fell immediately towards the hole that was now between us and the Volturi, while the mist – no surprise there – was still on its way without being affected at all.

Everyone got a little bit nervous when they saw that nothing of what Benjamin was trying worked, and they were wondering if Bella would be able to stop it.

I kept my eyes on the too-shocked faces of Caius and Aro.

Marcus kept himself without showing any reaction, any emotion to what he was seeing. I couldn't even listen to anything in his mind.

Aro and Caius were another matter.

_How…? What…? How did… the… ground open up?_

_Benjamin can do so much more than what I imagined,_ Aro was thinking, divided between the surprise and fear.

A huge addition to his guard, he was already imagining what he could do with the gifts on our group if we were on his group of puppets.

They quickly saw at what point Alec's mist was, and they followed it with their eyes.

Waiting.

Benjamin, though looking that neither the wind, nor the earth, or the snow could do absolutely anything against the mist, kept trying. The wind sounded pretty close like the echo around us while he tried to stop the passing of the mist.

Nothing happened. As if no one were trying to stop it.

Just a few more seconds, and we would know with certainty if Bella's shield really repelled Alec's gift. I didn't doubt it, but I couldn't help feeling anxious, reading everyone else's anxiety.

Jane was already smiling when she saw the mist just a few centimeters from us…

_It won't hurt them as much, but it'll be worth it,_ she was thinking while she already imagined us in the fire.

Aro was intent, almost desperate to see if Bella repelled Alec. Because if she did, they were the ones who would be in trouble with Zafrina and Benjamin on our side, with their gifts without working against us.

We all held our breathing, and almost immediately, breathe again.

The mist had touched Bella's shield, without being able to get through it. As if it were a wall that prevented it from passing through to us.

We all could see clearly that it was Alec's mist he used.

And besides seeing his mist, we could see its shape, the space, and above all, the size Bella's shield had around us. Even the Volturi could see it, and now they were a little bit worried, but they took us more seriously. Also what they wanted to do against us yet. Aro only wished now, to find a very good excuse to get out of this encounter that was going straight to a fight.

He knew all too well now. And he knew, too, that they were in disadvantage, that there was a great possibility of losing if the fight came.

_It's huge!_

_Wow…_

There were expressions of surprise everywhere.

_It didn't get through to us, and I doubt it will._

_It's stronger than I had even considered,_ Eleazar was thinking.

We were all watching how the mist moved everywhere around Bella's protecting shield, and didn't find absolutely any place to get through to us.

Benjamin was ecstatic, he was already seeing the fight in his mind, and the advantage on our side.

That gave us more chances of getting out well. Although there was a very high possibility of our numbers being diminished, but Aro, who was also thinking on the same thing, completed my thought, because their numbers would be affected, too, even more than ours.

Senna was one the ones that couldn't help but gasping when they saw the mist stopping behind Bella's shield, even the Rumanians, and the Irish coven beside Benjamin.

"Well done, Bella!" Benjamin cheered her up when he saw what was happening.

I risked a quick glance towards Bella, t hen, and there was a smile on her face.

I listened to how, while Alec narrowed his eyes to what he was seeing, the other members of the guard, like Felix and Demetri started doing changed in their list of priorities. It went from being me, the Rumanians, Eleazar, Carlisle, the most important ones to get finished, to be Bella.

I gritted my teeth, holding back a growl while I heard them.

If Bella kept us protected from their best weapons, Jane and Alec, they had to finish her off first to keep on going with the rest.

They obviously knew it wouldn't be easy.

_How does she do it?_ Alec was wondering, too shocked to keep a level of fury as Jane a few seconds ago.

Caius and Marcus, now, like everyone else, knew that Bella had a shield.

Something that made things harder.

Alec's mist, we were all watching it, was still trying to get through the wall it had in front of it towards us, without being able to. It spun around and crept over every millimeter of Bella's shield, trying to find a hole where it'd be able to get through, with no success.

_He can't do it, he can't get through to us._

_Yes!_

_Amazing, all the fear to Alec… unnecessary,_ Eleazar and some of the others were remembering how they had feared Bella's shield wouldn't resist Alec's and Jane's gift, like Zafrina's.

Bella interrupted the silence, then, speaking to me. Her voice was anxious. "I'm going to have to concentrate. When it comes to hand to hand, it's going to be harder to keep the shield around the right people."

I knew what she meant, just like everyone else.

_So it'll be a fight, then?_

_No doubt they believe the Volturi won't give up easily._

_No!_ Siobhan was thinking when she heard Bella. _I don't want this to be a fight._

_We have to be ready,_ Benjamin was thinking.

_This is what I had been waiting for,_ Emmett was who I heard.

I didn't want anyone to get closer to her, and not only because it was necessary to keep her shield on our side, I simply couldn't stand the idea of her being hurt.

I would make sure she weren't hurt.

"I'll keep them off you," I promised her. Already thinking of who would take care of Demetri.

And as if Bella knew what I had in mind, she said, "No. You have to get to Demetri. Zafrina will keep them away from me."

Zafrina quickly realized of the reason Bella had to not want me to protect her at this moment, when she named Demetri, and agreed with her.

_She's right, Edward, don't worry._

"No one will touch this young one," she promised me while nodding.

I knew, that even if it were no fight, the best thing for everyone, would be that Demetri ceased to exist. Alice was the first one to cross my mind when I considered that. Because all of this would be of great help for her and Jasper, because though they weren't here, Aro could get out of this meadow straight to find her. It wouldn't take them long, even when Alice saw it happened in one of her visions.

"I'd go after Jane and Alec myself, but I can do more good here."

Kate reacted to the name of Jane immediately, _don't you worry about Jane._

"Jane's mine," Kate announced, hissing. "She needs a taste of her own medicine."

_Don't even say it,_ Eleazar thought, remembering all the victims, the ones he was aware of, from Jane.

But she wasn't the only one he resented amongst the Volturi guards. All of them had not very friendly reactions amongst ours.

Surprising some of us, Vladimir growled, "And Alec owes many lives, but I will settle for his. He's mine."

Tanya was the next one to speak. "I just want Caius."

No one was surprised with Tanya saying that. Because if it hadn't been because Kate could give a very well deserved taste of her own medicine to Jane, the two sisters would have taken care of Caius. Eleazar and Carmen were a little bit on shock yet with what had Caius done, that they didn't say anything.

Aro, who had been listening to our group dividing the members of his guard for the fighting time, decided it was time to continue.

The wolves, hearing all the other vampires deciding who they would fight against, were already making their own plan, too.

_Help who needs it_, Sam ordered everyone else, who nodded.

_It's disgusting to help the vampires, but they're with the Cullens,_ I heard Paul complaining.

Jacob, with Renesmee on top of him, _I would help you, but Nessie's first, guys._

Caius and Marcus had left very clear what they thought about it.

They were still on the same position than before. Marcus had no inconvenient on leaving Renesmee alive, and then come back and check if it had been a mistake or not to allow it; but Caius, he didn't want to let not even a second more to pass – if it was possible – to end with my daughter's short life.

_What are you waiting for, Aro?_ Caius was anxious to get this over with, almost impatient.

Before speaking, Aro watched for several seconds to the mist that was still trying to get through Bella's shield, without being able really able to.

The terror and his worry were growing the more seconds passed, _neither Alec nor Jane can do anything against them. And with Benjamin and Zafrina on their side, we would be the blind ones if this comes to a fight… what to do now? Hmm… how to get the wanted? Perhaps…_

Finally, Aro said something, "Before we vote,"

I looked at Bella shaking her head, and her expression showed the reason. She was upset, like everyone else, by seeing how Aro kept on with his dramatics.

As if being _nice_ and _calm_ were going to make this better!

It was exasperating to hear him, and like Bella, I was also tired of this. I only wanted the fight to start once and for all or they left, _already_.

I focused on another mind, aside from Aro's, at this moment.

Maggie.

Though I didn't, actually, have to read Maggie's mind to know if Aro was saying or not the truth. It was too clear on Aro's himself mind when he spoke. His intentions were also very clear when he spoke what he wanted to say. It had always been that way, but now with more reason. Alice wasn't here, but he hadn't made this trip to leave empty-handed. I could see that, who were now on his list, besides the ones we had already been.

Aro continued speaking, even when he saw our expressions. "Let me remind you, whatever the council's decision, there need be no violence here."

I laughed out loud and hard of his comment, to see Aro expecting us to let our guards down just because he _assured_ he didn't want this to end a violent way. He knew that if we did it, even if it was for just a second, Alec's mist around us, would have the wanted effect finally.

Right!

_What's his problem?_

_Why don't they vote and stop this bullshit?_

_Finish this already..!_

Carlisle was the only one who didn't show any desperation to Aro's words, because first of all, he wished with all his might, that it would really be that way. Without violence, though he also knew, that it was very low likely that it would develop peacefully. Esme by his side, squeezed his hand delicately, knowing that was exactly what Carlisle had always expected.

Aro's look, while he saw me, was sad; but more because he knew that his plans or intentions were being ruined with me reading them at the same time they appeared on his mind, that because he regretted this ending on a fight, like he pretended he didn't want it to happen.

"It will be a regrettable waste to our kind to lose any of you," Aro said, me in his mind. "But you especially, young Edward, and your newborn mate."

_Ha!_ Caius exclaimed when he heard Aro.

And he wasn't the only one, _Regrettable? C'mon!_

"The Volturi would be glad to welcome many of you into our ranks. Bella, Benjamin, Zafrina, Kate. There are many choices before you. Consider them."

Though I couldn't listen to what Bella was thinking, I knew it was the same thing that Benjamin, Zafrina and Kate were thinking of.

_Not even if I was forced, first ash,_ Benjamin was already thinking, almost a threat.

_As if I were going to leave my sisters,_ Zafrina had only Senna and Kachiri in mind.

Kachiri…

_After what Caius did, only to kill them,_ Kate was growling.

I hadn't thought about Kachiri, or rather Alice, that way. But now that I thought about Kachiri again, and the day Zafrina and Senna had come to our house, what they had told us.

"_Alice told us we needed to separate,"_ Zafrina had explained to us Kachiri's absence. _"It's uncomfortable to be away from each other, but Alice assured us that you needed us here, while she very much needed Kachiri somewhere else. That's all she would tell us, except that there was a great hurry… ?"_

The two sentences where Zafrina had mentioned Alice, were repeating on my mind.

"_Alice told us we needed to separate."_

"_Alice assured us that you needed us here, while she very much needed Kachiri somewhere else."_

Why would Alice have to separate the Amazons, if she had abandoned us?

Really abandoned us?

Why did she need her, then?

I was now only half-listening to Aro, my mind was spinning around with questions about Alice's behavior.

Right now I was remembering the last moments in which Alice had been with us before leaving. The way she had kept what she was seeing from the future from me… that didn't include _us_.

"_I can't see."_

"_What was that? That part in the jungle. Are we going to look for them?"_

"_I can't see,"_ Alice had repeated, her eyes never meeting mine. _"We'll have to split up and hurry – before the snow sticks to the ground. We have to round up whomever…"_

Was it that Alice's defection had only been a lie? Had she been researching by her own, looking for something that might save us, without us knowing?

Why would she hide us such thing?

And then everything fell into place.

The note that she had left for Bella was the key. Having hidden that from me, so Aro wouldn't know, that's why Alice had left that not to her, because _I _couldn't read her thoughts nor what she planned to save our daughter, because of me having known about it, _Aro_ would have, too. And if he knew, there wouldn't be any chance of trying to save her while we still could…

_No? Chelsea's gift doesn't work either,_ I listened to Aro thinking while he took me out of my short daydream.

"Let us vote, then," Aro announced, not very happy of doing it. He hadn't yet found the perfect excuse to leave us alone.

Caius didn't waste any second, there wasn't even something to read in his mind about it, not anymore.

His enthusiasm was noticeable in his voice, as if he believed that Aro thought the same way that he did, and that right away they would do what he was desperate to have done and finished with already. _"The child is an unknown quantity. There is no reason to allow such a risk to exist. It must be destroyed, along with all who protect it."_ Again, Caius smiled his evil smile, waiting for Aro to agree with him and listen to the order he so wished to be able to give right now.

Marcus was the next one to speak. But like Caius', I already knew his answer.

They all tensed, waiting for Marcus to say the same thing.

_And what if he told the same as Caius?_

_We're all finished, Aro will surely agree with Caius and…_

_What? What's he going to say?_

I wanted to turn around towards everyone, and reassure them, especially my Bella, Renesmee behind us, Jacob; but I didn't have a reason to get ahead.

I didn't know why, not even understood the reason behind such sensation, but it was like if I was expecting something to get to us at any moment…

"I see no immediate danger," Marcus informed, barely raising his eyes towards us. "The child is safe enough for now. We can always reevaluate later. Let us leave in peace."

_Peace? Ha!_ Caius was thinking, though he wasn't worried about his words being taken _seriously_.

He didn't even seem to look more to those he had in front of him, the only thing he was listening to was…

Alice!

I couldn't even react.

Everything I was doing was listening to _her_ thoughts for a fifth of a second, before realizing she wasn't alone, not just Jasper's companionship.

Who were they? I only recognized Kachiri.

_Edward! Edward! I know you can hear me now,_ I heard Alice speaking to me, to still more than three miles away from where we were.

I was too shocked as to have a physical reaction that alerted everyone else of what I only could hear in my head.

It hadn't even been a fourth of a second, Marcus had barely finished speaking, and Aro was still thinking on what he would have to say next, and what would happen when he did.

Alice let me see inside of her mind, remembering.

"_Kachiri, you have got to help me,"_ I heard Alice begging to her, just right after seeing Zafrina and Senna leave.

"_What is happening, Alice? Why do you need me here, and Zafrina and Senna with Carlisle?"_ Kachiri asked.

"_Have you heard of the Libishomen?"_

Kachiri seemed to get a bit stiff like the wood, and then shaking her head, almost… scared. _"Some. Why?"_

"_Kachiri, I know this will be hard to believe. But, do you remember Edward?"_ Kachiri nodded, so Alice continued. _"He met and fell in love with a human. And a few months ago, they conceived a baby. Half-_human _and half-_vampire._"_

At first, Kachiri looked too shocked to say anything.

"_The Volturi found out of this, but without all the details, they believed that the girl was one of the immortal children, and have decided to come to us and punish for such thing. They believe we have broken the law, Kachiri."_

Alice waited for a second, and continued. _"I'm not sure of what she might be, but maybe… maybe Renesmee isn't the first one of her kind. Maybe she isn't the only one as we believe. I hope that if we find someone like her,"_

"_Half-human, half-vampire?"_ Kachiri asked, not very sure by her expression.

Alice nodded, and said, _"the Volturi will have no reason to destroy our family, do you understand?"_

Kachiri was the one who nodded now, _"Very likely. I will help you Alice, you and your family. Carlisle's an old friend, very loved."_

Alice smiled, and took Jasper's hand by her side, and the three took off running.

Just a second had barely passed, and I was already sure that Alice _had_ really found what she was looking for, that's why she'd come back, that's why two more people were coming with her right now, they had to be.

I was sure.

Aro's voice speaking interrupted for a third of a second Alice's memories.

"I must make the deciding vote, it seems," Aro said.

_We have him!_ Alice interrupted in my mind. _His name is Nahuel, Edward. He's also a half-vampire and half-human. We found him. Renesmee isn't unique… we can guess she won't be dangerous. Say it, stop them._

I didn't know how Alice knew that, but before being able to _stop him_, my reaction at the end was physical and vocal.

Because my daughter was going to live. I was sure.

I still could see in Aro's mind, and if he was upset for having to vote the same way as Caius; he didn't want this to come to a fight, he didn't want to lose his best weapons amongst the guard, he knew that would very surely happen if they didn't back away peacefully. Though we lost some of ours, they would too, losing the fight completely, with a very high possibility.

I didn't care if he did it out of fear or not at this moment, the only thing that was running through my mind was the confident of knowing that Renesmee would be fine, as soon as Alice got here to us…

I felt my body tensing when I heard the thoughts of those who came with Alice.

_Will they believe us? Will they believe that I am also half-human? And that I'm not dangerous?_

Alice had called him Nahuel, and at that same moment, Alice turned to see him, and it was impossible to deny he wasn't half-human and half-vampire. It was noticeable in his cheeks, though they weren't as white as Renesmee's, the blood flowing, it could be listened the beat of his heart, beating faster than a human's, just like my daughter's, it was noticeable that he wasn't as fast nor as elegant in his movement as a vampire was, but he had such grace, anyway.

Alice had really found him!

I was sure this would end as we always had planned now.

"Yes!" my voice was a hiss, of excitement and happiness, of anxiety and desperation at the same time. I wanted them to get here right this second.

Alice and everyone else could hear us now, and they slowed down to let me explain first.

I felt all the eyes on my face, and I could see in everyone's minds, even the Volturi's and their entire guard's. they were confused, they didn't understand what could make me look like this.

_What is it, Edward, son?_ Carlisle asked me.

But I didn't have the time to answer questions, not now.

_Edward? What is it?_ Jacob was musing more to himself, than looking for an answer.

_Daddy?_

_Why is he so happy?_

_It seems like this is over already,_ the Rumanians were thinking while they looked at me.

They weren't very far off the truth. Soon, this would all soon be finished in its totality, and our lives would go back to as much normalcy as possible.

_Something's wrong,_ Demetri was thinking, looking at my expression.

Jane and Alec were almost desperate by seeing my face, knowing that their gifts didn't work at all against us.

"Aro?" it was already time to finish this. My voice was victorious without working on it to sound that way, I couldn't even keep a reasonable level, it seemed like a scream. I wanted them to listen that this wasn't over yet, until they accepted that Renesmee would go on living.

_Mmm,_ Aro was musing while he heard my voice and saw my expression. _What caused this change? We're about to decide if his daughter must be or mustn't be allowed to keep living…_

I couldn't even bother now by listening to him thinking that.

After a second of hesitation, Aro finally whispered back. "Yes, Edward? You have something further…?"

I knew that I had to control my emotion at this moment, to keep myself calmed so I'd be able to speak. Because I felt that at any moment I would get to clap if it was possible to do it without looking like an insane person. After all, everyone else didn't have any idea of why I was in such a mood now.

"Perhaps," I told him. It was impossible to not be heard that I was glad to be able to give such answer. "First, if I could clarify one point?"

_Clarify one point? What are you talking about, Edward?_ Aro wasn't the only one confused.

Probably, Caius was the only one who stayed a bit confused as upset by having been interrupted the time in which Aro would give his final vote, _deciding_.

Aro raised his eyebrows, saying, "Certainly," at the same time, I heard Bella gritting her teeth together when she listened to the kind tone of Aro, which in this occasion at least, was honest. He wanted to know what had caused this change in me.

_Let's see what it is you have to share, young Edward,_ Aro told me.

"The danger you foresee from my daughter—this stems entirely from our inability to guess how she will develop?" I asked, perhaps confusing everyone even more. "That is the crux of the matter?"

I waited the short half-second that it took Aro to answer, anxious.

"Yes, friend Edward," Aro whispered back. "If we could but be positive… be sure that, as she grows, she will be able to stay concealed from the human world—not endanger the safety of our obscurity..." Aro didn't finish, knowing that we'd understand that his answer was a 'yes' if everything he had said was fulfilled.

Then he shrugged, _be sure that nothing else will please more, Edward._

"So, if we could only know for sure," I said, suggesting what was already reality. "exactly what she will become… then there would be no need for a council at all?"

_But they don't,_ Caius was thinking furiously. Believing that this was a trap, and a waste of time.

He was reaching the limit of his very limited and poor patience.

"If there was some way to be absolutely sure," Aro said, trying to guess what it was that I had to tell them. "Then, yes, there would be no question to debate."

"And we would part in peace, good friends once again?" I asked ironically, but managing to not make it very noticeable. We weren't good friends, but the style of Aro of speaking hypocritically. And Aro knew it.

_Where do you want to go, son?_ Carlisle was asking.

Well, they would all soon know.

"Of course, my young friend," Aro agreed once more. "Nothing will please me more."

_Yeah, right!_ There were exclamations amongst out group.

But I knew that Aro really wanted this to pass. I tried to stop the silly laughter that was threatening to escape my lips, but the excitement was hard to hold back. A chuckle got through my teeth. "Then I do have something more to offer."

_What?_

_It doesn't matter!_ Caius was thinking, exasperated.

_Huh?_

_Ah, yeah, Edward?_ Aro narrowed his eyes while he mused over what I had just told him. "She is absolutely unique," he said what he thought was truth. "Her future can only be guessed at."

"Not absolutely unique," I whispered, disagreeing with him, obviously. "Rare, certainly, but not one of a kind."

_She's not the only one?_

_What are you talking about, Edward?_ Rosalie wondered, remembering the times in which she'd said our Renesmee was unique in her kind.

"_Ruhnezmay?"_

"_R-e-n-e-s-m-e-e. Too weird?"_

"_No, I like it. It's beautiful. And one of a kind, so that fits."_

Both memories had Bella and Rosalie on the front.

"_Where does she usually sleep?"_

"_In Rose's arms. Or Jacob's. Or Esme's. You get the picture. She has never been set down in her entire life. She's going to be the most spoiled half-vampire in existence."_

"_She's also the most unspoiled half-vampire in existence. The beauty of being one of a kind."_

Jane and other ones, watched the change in Bella's face, and their gifts, being also of concentration, noticed how Bella unfocused when she heard me. I could imagine the reason why exactly. They all seemed to get unfocused for a few seconds, too. To hear me gave them hope, but more than anything, a little bit of uncertainty. They didn't know where I had gotten such thing from, when I had never before mentioned it…

They didn't have any idea of Alice and Jasper were a few seconds away from being reunited with us, and give irrefutable proof that Renesmee didn't have to be destroyed.

Just at that moment, I listened to Jane attacking Bella again; and at the same time, Bella squeezed my hand in an unconscious way.

_Anything? Is it a joke?_

"Aro," I said, still looking inside of Jane. "would you ask Jane to stop attacking my wife?" _or I will make her,_ "We're still discussing evidence."

"Peace, dear ones," Aro whispered, raising his hand to indicate them to stop. "Let us hear him out."

In a reluctant way, Jane stopped. Seeing Bella, I looked how she showed her her teeth in a sign of fury to such request. Bella answered her back with a grin. I held back a smile myself when I saw Bella that way.

Alice and everyone else had stopped a few meters away from us for a few seconds, waiting for the most ideal moment to join our line.

And I knew it was time.

I anticipated our family's reaction, especially. Although they wouldn't be the only happy ones about seeing her.

Modulating my voice a little bit louder than a whisper, I said, "Why don't you join us, Alice?"

The first one in reacting when she heard me calling Alice, was Esme.

"Alice,"

_Alice? Really? Our Alice? Is she back?_ Esme didn't believe it.

_Alice, Edward? Is it Alice?_

Carlisle understood now the reason of my words.

"Alice!"

"Alice, Alice, Alice!"

"Alice!" "Alice!"

While I listened to how everyone whispered Alice's name, and they recovered from the first moment of shock, I heard Aro.

"Alice," his voice was barely a whisper, but it had the same intensity as if it had been yelled.

Alice was back, his most wanted goal amongst us.

Would he go as easily and calmly as before, when he had believed that Alice wasn't with us?

We will find out.

Esme and Carlisle, Rosalie and Emmett, and even Jacob and Renesmee, and I could bet everything that Bella felt it too, a whole mixture of happiness from seeing her again, relief from knowing that she had not abandoned us as she had believed for a very long time, expectation from seeing her entering with Jasper towards us, and even fear when seeing the expression of Aro and remembering why we had thought she had left us weeks ago.

With fair reason they feared what Aro were thinking. Like that time, I felt him intoxicated by the idea of taking Alice amongst his ranks when they finished this.

Now the footsteps and the noise the air did when being interrupted while they passed by running was heard.

The expression amongst the witnesses the Volturi had brought along with them had changed radically. They were confused right now, they had no idea of what was happening. They didn't know what was the importance Alice had to cause this reaction amongst us. It wasn't just that, of course.

Alice and Jasper were the first ones to run into the meadow, followed by Kachiri, who was excited about being back with her sisters, Zafrina and Senna.

The next one, no one knew, and they were confused of seeing that they were coming along with Alice and Jasper.

Huilen, followed by her nephew Nahuel.

"_Yes? Who are you?"_ I listened to Alice's memory once again. The moment in which they had found the most important witnesses.

"_I am Huilen. What are you doing here?"_

"_We came here looking for someone."_

"_Someone?"_

Alice and Kachiri explained the reason of their presence in that place, on the deep parts of the Amazon jungle. Renesmee's story repeated again.

"_This is Nahuel. Half-human and half-vampire. Just like you say that girl is."_

It seemed, like Huilen wasn't very willing to leave her home to come here and present herself to the Volturi, after hearing how their behavior was. They hadn't known absolutely anything about such vampires who took care of our secret to the human world.

"_Please, aunt Huilen? I would want to see that other half-vampire."_

_We are back!_ Alice was screaming with excitement on her mind only, knowing that this wasn't the most normal occasion to give a big welcome.

Jasper, though more reserved, was also happy to be back with our family.

Another one happy of being reunited with her owns, was Kachiri.

I didn't pay the necessary attention to the physics of none, Nahuel and Huilen, I was watching the Volturi's reactions and their guard's.

_Oh it's them! Yes, they are. They're back…_

_Who are they? I had never seen them,_

_Why didn't just Alice, Jasper and Kachiri come?_

_What is this?_

In the meantime that Alice came closer, I absently wondered what reaction would be there amongst the guards when they saw that Bella's shield didn't repel a physical attack.

Before I could imagine with more depth, the arrival of the new members into our defensive line, caused a new reaction amongst the Volturi, their guard and their witnesses. The heart of a human, besides the wolves' and Renesmee's, started resonating in the silence of the meadow while we waited for them to reach us.

It was the same kind of beat than Renesmee's. Aro knew it.

At that moment, with the Volturi and everyone else still shocked by what they were hearing, Alice reached us and walked through, if you could say it that way, Bella's shield to us.

_Oh, Edward, we've missed you so much!_ She thought while getting by my side.

Only Bella, Carlisle, Esme and I could give her a gesture of welcome. The four of us touched Alice on her shoulder.

_I love you, too,_ Alice thought back in answer, knowing that something like that we were telling her each.

Even Renesmee, if she could've, would have thrown herself at her aunt. I could see it in her mind, the excitement and joy that we all else felt, she also felt it.

Felix, Demetri, Coring, Santiago and others quickly considered the power of the shield that was now protecting us.

_Mm, they didn't have any trouble…_

_They just jumped above Alec's mist, but went through like there was nothing._

_Could we get to them, then?_

_They're lost! Mostly that newborn._

Jane and Alec were also smiling when they saw that a physical attack would be impossible to avoid for what they saw, and they had enough vampires on their ranks that would cause us several physical damage.

I couldn't help it. I would've growled if I could have. To hold back, caused my body to tense when I heard them planning strategies to get to Bella, firstly. If this got to a fight, everyone had Bella as the main target.

I looked from the corner of my eye…

But I controlled myself so I'd able to speak again, Alice saw my reaction and as always, she advised me to calm down. "Alice has been searching for her own witnesses these last weeks."

_That's what she'd been doing?_ Carlisle thought, relieved. _We should've known._

_Oh!_

Caius wasn't willing to keep wasting any more time, as he thought this to be. He was sure, that this was a trick from our part, even when he was listening to the beating heart of another _human_.

"And she does not come back empty-handed. Alice, why don't you introduce the witnesses you've brought?" I said.

"The time for witnesses is past!" Caius growled "Cast your vote, Aro!"

But Aro felt too much curiosity for such a discovery to pay attention to his rushed brother.

Aro only responded raising a finger to indicate Caius to calm down and to wait. His eyes were only looking at Alice, and what he could take with him if it were possible in a short time.

His thirst of desire for Alice and her gift, was stronger with her in front of him.

Knowing, Alice, that it was time to introduce her witnesses, she stepped forward to speak. "This is Huilen, and her nephew, Nahuel."

_Nephew? What does she mean with her _aunt_? Please!_ Caius was thinking, his eyes tensing.

Aro was even more curious about seeing the story behind such witnesses.

"Speak, Huilen," Aro spoke first to the aunt. "Give us the witnesse you were brough to bear."

Huilen wasn't very sure of what to do, though she had rehearsed her speech several times while they were coming to Forks. Alice had told her what things were primordial to _did_ say at the time of coming to Aro.

_Alice?_ Huilen turned to see her, and she nodded, giving her confidence for her to cheer up to speak.

Kachiri, at the same time, placed her hand on her shoulder.

_Don't worry, nothing'll happen,_ Kachiri was thinking.

Huilen turned her eyes to Aro, and started her story. "I am Huilen. A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our parents named her after the snow on the mountains because of her fair skin. And she was very beautiful—too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel that found her in the woods, that visited her by night. I warned her," she whispered while shaking her head when she remembered the end her sister had. I held back a shudder when I thought if _that_ could've happened to my Bella. "As if the bruises on her skin were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends, but she would not listen. She was bewitched."

She was bewitched or in love? I wondered to myself.

I didn't want to think, not even consider that was the same story of my angel. It wasn't, so I stopped that thought.

We had been destined to be together, before we both had even imagined that there would be love between us. This hadn't been born with the time, it had always been this way, before we both were conscious of such love…

Huilen continued with her speech, distracting my train of thought. "She told me when she was sure her dark angel's child was growing inside her. I didn't try to discourage her from her plan to run away—I knew even our father and mother would agree that the child must be destroyed, Pire with it."

Her story only reminded me what Kaure had told me weeks ago on Isle Esme. But I knew better than to believe that that was the _only_ option.

"I went with her into the deepest parts of the forest. She searched for her demon angel but found nothing. I cared for her, hunted for her when her strength failed. She ate the animals raw, drinking their blood."

_Animal blood?_ Carlisle listened intently, remembering the way Bella had been obligated to drink human blood, because we though that that was what Renesmee craved, and it _was_, but it would sem, that if we had given her the blood of a grizzly, as Bella had said, she wouldn't have rejected it.

"I needed no more confirmation of what she carried in her womb. I hoped to save her life before I killed the monster."

I shuddered inwardly, remembering all the times in which I had considered my daughter as a _monster_.

"But she loved the child inside her. She called him Nahuel, after the jungle cat, when he grew strong and broke her bones—and loved him still.

"I could not save her. The child ripped his way free of her, and she died quickly, begging all the while that I would care for her Nahuel. Her dying wish—and I agreed."

_It's the same story,_ Carlisle was thinking; and again, I shuddered from just imagining that it could have really been the _same_ story. Bella was a live, she never had to look out for me, I always were by her side, as if it were possible for it to be other way!

"He bit me, though, when I tried to lift him from her body. I crawled away into the jungle to die. I didn't get far—the pain was too much. But he found me; the newborn child struggled through the underbrush to my side and waited for me. When the pain ended, he was curled against my side, sleeping.

"I cared for him until he was able to hunt for himself. We hunted the villages around our forest, staying to ourselves. We have never come so far from our home, but Nahuel wished to see the child here."

_Well, that is all I had to say,_ Huilen thought while she made a move with her head to indicate that she had finished saying her story. Then, as if she were still afraid of the vampires in front of her, she half hid behind Kachiri by her side.

_This is… surprising, there is no other word,_ Aro was considering.

_Incredible, isn't it?_ Alice thought. We would discuss about that later. I was sure.

Aro, his lips half twisted, was seeing Nahuel, who was the half-vampire, half-human, just like Renesmee.

He started a series of questions, that would tell him if Renesmee could keep living, though he knew that it would be that way. "Nahuel," the kid shuddered slightly when he heard his name coming out of the elderly vampire in front of him. "you are one hundred and fifty years old?"

"Give or take a decade," Nahuel answered. "We don't keep track."

_She's going to live, Edward. She's going to live eternity with us,_ Alice was thinking happily, thinking and remembering our fears about the accelerated growth of Renesmee.

I fought to keep myself focused on what was being talked about, and not on that point; but it was difficult.

"And you reached maturity at what age?" Aro asked.

"About seven years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown."

_Renesmee is going to live? Is she going to be happy forever?_ It was everything Jacob wondered about when he heard Nahuel's answers. Not even once, had he considered Renesmee's _maturity_.

"You have not changed since then?"

"Not that I've noticed," Nahuel answered, shrugging.

Jacob shuddered when he heard this news.

Aro kept asking. "And your diet?"

"Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either."

"You were able to create an immortal?" Aro asked, his voice and his mind went ahead; because now, by seeing Huilen as a vampire, he knew that he _indeed_ was able to, and for what he had seen in my mind, Renesmee couldn't.

"Yes, but none of the rest can."

I didn't even listen to the thought that there were around such words. I only wanted to hear with perfect attention to Aro.

But a whisper rose above amongst the three groups that there were in the meadow.

Even Aro, was shocked. His eyebrows rose, and he said, "The rest?"

With a shrug, Nahuel answered, "My sisters."

Aro and Caius were too impressed to think coherently for a second while they watched Nahuel and considered everything he had said. Aro had already decided, even before Nahuel and Huilen arrived and assured and gave proof that the half-vampires, half-humans weren't dangerous; but Caius…

_It seems like there's so much more than what we listen,_ Aro thought.

"Perhaps you would tell us the rest of your story, for there seems to be more," Nahuel only frowned, remembering his _father_. He didn't like thinking of him.

"My father came looking for me a few years after my mother's death," in his face it was obvious that he didn't like to talk about his father, not even think about him. "He was pleased to find me," _But I wasn't, he abandoned my mother… _ "He had two daughters, but no sons. He expected me to join him, as my sisters had.

"He was surprised I was not alone. My sisters are not venomous, but whether that's due to gender or a random chance… who knows? I already had my family with Huilen, and I was not interested" _nor will I be_, Nahuel was thinking almost furiously. "in making a change. I see him from time to time. I have a new sister; she reached maturity about ten years back."

Caius reacted faster than Aro, his wish to apply the law coming up quickly.

"You father's name?" his voice barely coming out between his teeth.

"Joham," Nahuel said, without having any idea of what was going on through Caius' mind. "He considers himself a scientist. He thinks he's creating a new superrace."

_He doesn't even care about the death of the human mothers,_ Nahuel thought, disgusted.

Looking for another excuse to finish Renesmee off yet, Caius turned towards Bella, and he asked before anybody else could say something, "Your daughter, is she venomous?"

_Your daughter? The mother is alive?_ Nahuel asked himself while turning around to see who Caius was speaking to.

_Is that true?_ Caius was thinking, but Aro didn't even seem to have been conscious of this short interchange.

_Oh my dear friend, Carlisle,_ Aro was thinking while he saw my father's face, _you have created a real family…_ then his eyes turned to my face, _and you, young Edward, even more real. A human for a wife – now vampire –, and now a biological daughter…_ his eyes passed me by to Bella, _and this newborn, she has brought to our world so many new things, a waste would it be to destroy this family._

_There is no reason to destroy them_, Aro kept considering what to do.

Though his decision seemed to be already made.

"We take care of the aberration here," Caius said, snarling. "and then follow it south."

"Brother," Aro whispered and I controlled my expression before he was done talking. "There appears to be no danger. This is an unusual development, but I see no threat. These half-vampire children are much like us, it appears."

"Is that your vote?" Caius growled once again.

"It is," Aro confirmed simply.

Frowning out of dissatisfaction and frustration, Caius said, "And this Joham? This immortal so fond of experimentation?"

"Perhaps we should speak with him," Aro conceded.

_Fine,_ Caius seemed to be satisfied, a little bit, with Aro's answer.

"Stop Joham if you will," Nahuel said quickly, worried about his sisters and his future if those vampires went on to looking for his father to punish him. "But leave my sisters be. They are innocent."

_Yes, yes, sure,_ Caius answered.

Aro nodded, _Of course, if they are innocent, they will be forgiven…_

They were, so they probably didn't have anything to worry about. They weren't even dangerous.

More relieved than happy about this having ended up in good terms, turned around again towards his guard to announce their leaving. Finally!

They were all waiting, almost holding their breath, to Aro to get out of here with his entire guard.

"Dear ones," Aro announced, "We do not fight today."

_Dammit!_ Jane was the only one who regretted that those were Aro's words at this moment. Fighting was the only thing that kept her firm in her place, waiting to be able to hurt someone else physically, given the fact her gift didn't work.

Still, none of them would disobey their master's orders.

They all nodded at the same time, they stood straight, leaving aside the attack positions.

_Well,_ Alec was thinking while we saw how the mist around us little by little crept away from us until turning into nothing.

But Bella didn't put her guard down, believing that it couldn't be that easy, maybe.

Caius, like Jane, wasn't happy with the outcome. _I'll obtain satisfaction,_ he was thinking while in his mind I listened to Joham's name spinning around. I bet he would.

The Volturi's witnesses were the first ones to get hurriedly away from the meadow, and slowly at first. One by one, hurried and a bit anxious to be out of this camp that had been a battle by very little, with them in the public. Relieved, too, that this hadn't come to a fight, because they had learned a truth: we were _innocent_.

Aro had turned towards us, so his eyes hadn't seen his witnesses _escape_ from this place.

Caius and Marcus were still with the same emotions that I had read in them all the time during their stay in front of us.

And Aro, he was glad it ended this way. He quickly spoke to Carlisle, just like at the beginning. After all, it was _him_ who had been his friend a few hours ago and decades back. He knew that Carlisle would forgive him some day, maybe not very soon, but he would. It wasn't in his nature to not forgive.

They knew that Aro would give his final speech, his _goodbye_ to our group, so, not being the first time, the guard knew that they could begin to back away with Caius, Marcus and the wives.

Only Renata, Felix and Demetri stayed behind with Aro, waiting to leave.

Aro raised his hand towards us, and then said, "I'm so glad this could be resolved without violence," his tone, though honest, wasn't it completely. "My friend, Carlisle—how pleased I am to call you friend again! I hope there are no hard feelings. I know you understand the strict burden that our duty places on our shoulders."

"Leave in peace, Aro," Carlisle asid, in his tone it was obvious that he netiher believed completely what Aro was saying. With fair reason, of course. "Please remember that we still have our anonymity to protect here, and keep your guard from hunting in this region."

"Of course, Carlisle," Aro answered, assuring that he would fulfill such request. "I am sorry to earn your disapproval, my dear friend. Perhaps, in time, you will forgive me."

_Mmm, it will be necessary, maybe…_

"Perhaps, in time, if you prove a friend to us again."

Aro only responded back with a inclination of his head. Anyone who had only saw it from the outside, would believe that he was completely drowning in regret for what had just happened amongst _friends_, those of us who had access to his mind, and to know if he really meant it or not, we had another idea.

Still, we watched intently how Aro and his guards walked away from us to gather together with everyone else and finally leave us alone.

The silence stayed for a moment. I could see that Bella wasn't the only one who didn't let her guard down completely. But there was no reason to keep fearing the Volturi. Not for now.

The thoughts around me were blank.

Bella was the one who broke the silence when he whispered to me, "Is it really over?"

And my smile, when I turned to see her, wasn't only because it was _over_ truly, but because of everything we had found out. Only Renesmee was occupying my mind at this second… "Yes. They've given up. Like all bullies, they're cowards underneath the swagger," Again, I chuckled, remembering the way in which they saw us a few moments ago still.

Alice, knowing the same thing, laughed of my words choice. "Seriously, people. They're not coming back. Everybody can relax now."

As if it wasn't enough yet, without completely believing what Alice and I had announced, there was another moment of silence.

Now it was Stefan who broke the silence. "Of all the rotten luck."

I only heard how far away, the celebrations broke through the complete silence that had surrounded us barely just a few seconds ago, my mind and all of my being was centered around Bella and Renesmee…

The next second, Bella already had our daughter in her arms, and I had them in my arms.

This… this was what we had always wanted, and it would be that way. We would always have each other, for the eternity, all the _forever_ was stretching endlessly in front of us. There would be no more fears of any kind, any anxiety about knowing what would it be of our daughter a few years more, if she'd be healthy, she would! And most importantly, she would be with us!

"Nessie, Nessie, Nessie," Bella repeated, her voice like a crooning.

I smiled at the same time that Jacob laughed.

_Yes! It was about time my nickname was accepted, it's cute,_ Jacob was laughing. With his nose he gently hit Bella on her back. Happy, too, as everyone.

"Shut up," Bella answered. I almost heard the _before I regret it_.

"I get to stay with you?" Renesmee asked, her tone, as much the vocal as the mental one, was one of anxiety. She wanted to know, and right _away_ if it'd be that way.

"Forever," Bella answered.

Happiness exploded on Renesmee's inside, just like ours, I was sure.

"Forever," I promised one more time to my both angels.

I didn't hear, I didn't want to hear, to anything around us.

The only thing I wanted was to be with Bella.

Our lips sealed in only once, erasing all of that around us. as if we were on our own little bubble.

I couldn't do anything else but to love her.

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**Thank you for waiting and reading, and huge thanks to BxPrincess2005 for reminding me that I had to update, I hurried since reading your PM and here it is!**

**I'll be waiting for your reviews, :)**


	40. Chapter 39, THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER

**HI EVERYONE!**

**It's done, it's finally finished. The last chapter of this story has finally reached its ending.**

**The final period was so great and sad, at the same time. The same thing happened to me last year when I was writing it in Spanish, unconsciously I didn't want to finish, so I got a bit slower and wasn't finishing, then it was a conscious thing, until it reached the ending, happened once again. Though now I only had to write, not think about it, not listen to what Edward and Bella's final words wanted to be.**

**I guess I'll be missing this Edward, the one and the only. But there are others that we love just the same, those ones - I'm sure - will still be with me for a long time after this. They already are.**

**I should be thanking a lot of people, those who read this story from the very beginning and were patient enough to wait when I decided to keep this on hiatus or hold while I finished it first in Spanish. THANK YOU. To those who were kind enough to leave a review. THANK YOU. To those who loved it or hated it, but read it, anyway. THANK YOU. To those who supported me. THANK YOU. To those who encourage me to keep going and not give up. THANK YOU. To those who went from being just readers to friends. THANK YOU.**

**THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. It's never going to be enough.**

**Thank you to those who made me believe in myself, I never thought I'd be doing this kind of stuff, but here I am.**

**DISCLAIMER: SADLY BUT TRULY, THE AMAZING STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS TWILIGHT, I ONLY PLAYED WITH HER STORY AND CHARACTERS.**

**Enjoy it, see you down there.**

* * *

CHAPTER 39. The Happily Ever After

I could have stayed that same way forever. Bella in my arms, her lips against mine…

But after a few seconds, the silence in my mind evaporated to give entrance to all the thoughts around us. The atmosphere was one of celebration, and happiness when seeing that everything had turned out well. Perhaps, not the exact way we had planned, but well, at last.

Without needing to turn around to see absolutely no one, I could see the celebrations of each one.

The wolves were still howling out of joy once and a while, also looking at the scene in front of them. So many gathered vampires, showing love amongst them. I could tell, maybe not from everyone, but they were thinking differently already of our kind. Not those soulless, incapable of loving monsters, they had once considered us like. But now they included in such description, to more than just the Cullens. It was impossible not to.

Tanya, Kate and Garrett were together, at this moment, in a hug. Their happiness was incomplete because of their sister's death, Irina. Carmen and Eleazar were also in a hug and inwardly crying for the same reason that the sisters.

_This should've been differently_, Tanya was thinking, remembering such terrible memory for their family.

I couldn't help not feeling bad about Tanya and the others, who were almost of our family, too. But deeply, I felt the illogical impulse of saying "She deserved it for having put my family in danger" but I kept quiet.

Benjamin and Tia were hugging too, enjoying of the idea of being saved. Their thoughts were focused, once and a while, in Amun and Kebi.

We will have to find them and tell them how this all ended, Benjamin was thinking mockingly, maybe we'll find them in the Sahara.

Rosalie and Emmett were still busy, in each other's arms. Their thoughts were incoherent.

While I still held Bella in my arms, the two, or rather the three of us, because Nessie also saw it, we saw Jacob walking out of the meadow towards the wood to phase back to human.

"Jake?" Renesmee asked, a bit anxious when she saw him getting away.

_I'll be right back; tell her, Edward,_ he asked me while he was out of our sights.

"Don't worry, Nessie, he'll be right back," I assured her, taking her for a moment in my arms without releasing Bella, too.

Said and done, before a minute had passed, Jacob was already back. His arms outstretched towards Renesmee, so he'd take her in his arms. He was so happy of seeing her smiling easily, that I didn't have to read his mind to know that he also wanted to be with her.

As soon as he took her in his arms, certain thoughts that weren't familiar to me, caught my attention.

Mmm… Nahuel.

Bella's image in my arms, and Renesmee in her mother's, were spinning around in his mind like a tornado. At the same time he was remembering his father, and the little he knew about her mother. How he didn't have the family, that according to him, we did.

Huilen followed his eyes, and saw the same thing that Nahuel was seeing.

_I am a monster, for real?_ I listened, a little bit surprised, to Nahuel wondering to himself that. I could see, too, that it wasn't the first time. Only that this time, there was a tone of incredulity, of doubt, as if now he was doubting that that was what he was. I didn't thing he were. His eyes were fixated, for moments, on Bella's smiling face, on Renesmee's, on mine. Even Jacob's, and the way he looked at Renesmee while he held her in his arms.

"We're saved, guys!" Jacob exclaimed, almost a yell of pure joy. Kissing both Renesmee's cheeks.

"I know," Bella said, her voice happy again.

_We will be forever together!_ Nessie was excited about thinking of that.

We were all celebrating this triumph.

I was listening to everyone, and there was more happiness in this day that what I would've expected. Only Tanya's family wasn't as happy as everyone else of having won this difficult encounter. And it was too obvious why they weren't. Their mother's death was still not overcome, much less now their sister's Irina's.

It was the only thing that stained the happiness that was felt in the atmosphere.

"Mommy, mommy," Renesmee called out to Bella's already attention on her.

Bella smiled at her, and at the same time I listened to someone else putting their attention more intently on us. Even more.

_Her mom? How… is? How is it possible? No…_

Nahuel was too shocked after hearing Renesmee calling her mommy.

And now, better than a moment ago, I could see the reason. I understood well now why he had been doubting of his status as a monster a few moments ago. He, like I myself had been fearing while Bella was pregnant, had left his mother dead when he was born.

Huilen, his aunt, hadn't been able to do anything to save her after the so terrible and painful death she had suffered when Nahuel was born. Even Huilen when he saw who had caught Nahuel's attention while Carlisle was still with them, thanking them for having come, risking their lives, too, to help us, was shocked when she heard us and saw us. her mind was filled with so many memories and desires that were now part of her past, of a time in which she had wished badly that her sisters was saved…

The images were too explicit for me, more so when I thought that Bella could've been in that situation.

"I'm glad, that despite the danger, you had decided to help my children Alice and Jasper, us by coming here," I was listening to Carlisle speaking with Huieln. His voice had a tone strong and clearly grateful towards both South Americans.

Huilen shook her head, a little shyly, while she smiled slight to Carlisle in answer o his words. "Alice explained to us the situation, and it was the least we could do."

Then she remembered how fiercely her sister had implored to her before dying for her to take care of Nahuel.

"We couldn't allow that an innocent was killed," her words sounded pretty sincere.

"Still, Huilen, I thank you once again," Carlisle repeated again his gratefulness.

I knew that Bella and I should be the first ones in that row to thank the South Americans for their help; after all, it was our daughter who they had saved. To Alice and Jasper, too, we owed an apology, not only our gratefulness. I more than anyone else, for having thought and believed that Alice had really abandoned us, that she had never loved us or not enough as to stay by our side when the time to face the Volturi came.

Of course, as soon as I thought about it, Alice turned to see me from between Esme's hug. A big grin forming on her face.

_Yes, you owe me a big apology… Thinking we had abandoned you! Impossible, but it was part of the plan, Edward, you had to believe so._

I didn't say anything, there would be time for that later.

Bella had again, by her own request, Renesmee on her arms. Once again, without being able to help it, now more than never, I wrapped my arms around them both. It was impossible to keep our faces non-smiling.

The pack, little after the Volturi had disappeared completely, had said goodbye to our family so they'd leave and go give the good news to their own families.

Jacob was the only one who had stayed behind. He would go later, he'd told them. Of course, the advantage was that Billy knew why he couldn't get away from our side at these moments, Renesmee was sound and save; there was no way for him to leave her now.

At that moment, Jacob, who had take off of Renesmee the small bag that she was carrying on her back, had taken out the documents that I already knew were inside.

What else could they have been? When Bella's goal had been for Renesmee to make it away from this place with Jacob.

"Jacob Wolfe? Vanessa Wolfe?" he suddenly asked when he read the names on the papers he had in his hands. Two birthday certificates, two passports and one driving license, for what I saw in his mind.

"I thought you'd like it," Bella answered him, smiling.

"You pulled off an A+, Bells," was everything Jacob said in answer.

_Wolfe, huh?_

The family came closer to us, then; and it was until that moment that I focused a little bit more on the minds that were still on the meadow.

_The Romanians weren't very happy when they left,_ Emmett commented while mockingly punching me on the shoulder.

"Oh, don't you worry about the Romanians," I assured them, remembering the little I had read in their minds before they left. They had been the first ones. "even though they were extremely disappointed for how things ended up, they enjoyed of the Volturi's cowardice almost enough to compensate for their frustration."

"Well, that doesn't matter now," Carlisle inserted. "They knew from the beginning that our goal was not a fight against the Volturi."

Fortunately everything ended up well, he thought silently to himself.

Renesmee almost jumped out of Bella's arms, when her grandfather finished speaking, into Alice. She had missed her aunt Alice as much as anyone of us had.

"Aun Alice, I missed you," Renesmee exclaimed while hugging her fiercely.

"Oh, Nessie, I missed you too," Alice answered smiling. "But don't worry, that it's the last time I left," she told her, kissing one of her cheeks.

Bella turned to see me, then, her eyes full of significance. Then they turned towards Nahuel and Huilen, and I understood what she meant.

"Now we will all be together, fearless, eh," Alice commented, before Bella and I could say something to the South Americans, that were looking at us sadly and at the same time happily. "You will be forever with us, with your parents, Nessie."

Renesmee smiled the only way she could, dazzling us all.

_How I missed that smile,_ Alice was thinking while we all saw her with the same feeling.

Even Jasper, I could see, had missed our family. Even though when he had always been by Alice's side, and she was the only thing he cared about, he had missed being with us. And like Alice, he was happy to be back home.

Now more than ever, he knew this his home, too.

I could barely believe, that until now, he understood he was part of our _family…_

Carlisle and Esme would be happy to be able to hear what he was thinking.

Bella and I, this time we did, turn around to look straight to Nahuel and Huilen, while the others members of our family, including the Denalis, were around Renesmee and Jacob. Rosalie was hugging and kissing full of happiness to Renesmee.

With my arm wrapped around Bella's waist, and she wrapping hers around mine, we walked towards Nahuel and Huilen, their eyes quickly turning to us.

"Nahuel, Huilen…" I whispered. "I cannot express how grateful we are," I included Bella, obviously knowing that also felt that way. "that you have saved us this evening. Especially our daughter, Renesmee."

_Our daughter? Is he the father of the half-human, half-vampire child?_

Bella nodded, then. "That's right. If it weren't for you, who know what would have happened with her," she took a deep breath, as if she didn't want to think about that.

"Really, thank you so much."

_This little child does have her parents. I wish my sister had been able to live like this young vampire._

Huilen was the one who spoke first. "There's nothing to thank for. Like we already told Carlisle, Alice explained to us why you needed us so urgently, and how could we refuse?"

We both nodded this time. "Still, thank you again."

Huilen smiled.

"Is she a daughter of yours, then?"

"She is. She's our only daughter," I answered.

"She's so beautiful," Huilen commented while she looked at Renesmee.

"Thanks."

Nahuel hadn't said a word at all, out loud. His thoughts were kind of strong, while he saw the way we spoke of Renesmee, of our gratefulness towards them, how our eyes shined when we saw our daughter…

His mind seemed to think the same thing as Huilen up until certain point, but another part of it, was only looking at Renesmee, who was someone like him, she had and he didn't.

Parents, alive.

We all gathered around once again in the middle of the meadow after a moment, and we took off back to the house.

It looked different when we got there. It wasn't visible the shadow of tension, anxiety or sadness around the house when we walked into the back lawn anymore. We were welcomed in our home again. As if it were any regular day, and we were only having the visit of good friends.

Benjamin and Tia didn't even got in the house again, they said goodbye to Carlisle and the whole family warmly and sadly, up until one point, they had grown fond of us and felt love for the whole family, and they hoped, for what I saw in their minds, that we would see all again soon, some day in the near future.

"Well, Carlisle, I think it's time for us to leave," Benjamin announced before anyone put a foot inside the house. "thought we wish we could stay a little while longer."

"Thank you so much for everything, Benjamin," Carlisle thanked him while placing one of his hands on his shoulder.

"We'll reach Amun and Kebi soon, I hope, they'll want to know how all this ended up," his lips formed a smile, hugging Kebi, he said goodbye to everyone. "We will see you again."

"Take care of the little one," was everything Kebi said when saying goodbye.

"We will," Bella and I promised.

Mary and Randall were the next ones to leave, but after having been a few minutes inside of the house. They weren't hurried, but at the same time they wished they were back in their own lives. For a reason they were nomads…

Renesmee spent most of her time sitting on my lap, Bella was by our side on the couch. Carlisle was the only member of the family, who once and a while had Esme's companion, chatting with the South Americans. He was very interested in learning everything possible about the life they held in the Amazons, too. But above all, for being half-human, half-vampire, just like Renesmee.

Like me, he also remembered the day in which Bella had drunk human blood while she was pregnant, and how she had _believed_ that it would be animal blood we would be giving her, given we had believed that it would be better if it was human…

"So… your sister Pire drank animal blood while she was pregnant?" Carlisle asked Huilen, of course.

"That's right. I hunted for her, when she lost all strength to do it herself," Huilen had answered him, quietly. "She wasn't going, or couldn't have, kill humans."

"Of course," Carlisle answered, interested in what Huilen was saying.

Renesmee in my arms, was laughing over and over again with the few friends that were still left before they left. And though I knew that Carlisle had _entertained_ the South Americans, I could listen and see my family, Bella, Nessie and in myself in Nahuel's mind. But mostly Bella, after a while.

"Everything turned out better than we thought, right?" Zafrina was commenting excitedly.

"Yes," Kachiri said. "all because Alice didn't give in."

_Oh, please,_ Alice was thinking while she heard the Amazons comments.

Esme was sitting at the edge, with Jasper and Alice by her side. The three were flooding joy in their minds, just like everyone else.

"Daddy and mommy helped," Renesmee commented, an even bigger smile on her face.

"They all helped," I corrected Nessie sweetly, while I caressed her cheek.

Nahuel, of course, noticed the gesture.

_How did she survive?_ He was wondering while looking at Bella.

But his thoughts, at first, couldn't be kept much longer in just one of the members of my family.

Looking at the way I held Renesmee in my lap, how I caressed her cheeks every time her eyes met my eyes, how I smiled at her in response to her dazzling smiles, how I hugger her and her mother…

_That's the way it should've been my father… being with my mother, take care of her, love her. Not abandoning her while she was pregnant, without minding about what happened to her. Nahuel was thinking almost furiously towards his father, coming back when I had already murdered her… Why?_

I frowned slightly when I heard him.

I could almost hear Bella telling me, that's the problem. You're too good. You're beyond too good.

I wasn't perfect, I hadn't even been able, not now not then, to believe that that could be true.

But, at least, I knew that I was a better father than some others. I hadn't abandoned my Bella, much less Renesmee when she had been born, even when I had _wanted_ to hate her before she was born, I had never actually felt that feeling. That had been proved to me when I realized how quickly the love for my daughter flooded inside of me when I heard her for the first time, when I saw her being born…

"But we were lucky," Zafrina reminded us. "If Bella hadn't had that gift, because without her shield, none of this would've happened. We would've had so little time before the Volturi destroyed us. Alice would've have made it in time."

Some of us shuddered at the mere possibility of considering that thought.

"But we're fine," Renesmee whispered, her voice joyous. She remembered, though it hadn't actually been because _of that_ we were all fine, when she'd asked Aro not to hurt her family.

"_Of course I have no desire to harm your loved ones, precious Renesmee."_

Ha! How badly in that moment, I felt like doing something about it, even when I was only listening to it in myself now.

To lie to my daughter…

I held back the madness and rage at this moment. That was already part of the past and there it had to be left, locked away in the farthest away part in my mind. This day, now, corresponded to the happy days of our existence, everyone's.

Even the wolves'.

I heard Jacob, and again, he was only happy, like everyone else, for having come out of this so nasty encounter alive. Because Renesmee had come out alive.

He wasn't thinking about anything else but Renesmee's happiness and healthy future.

I had to admit it, even to only myself, I was impressed.

Because even if I'd known, that I had seen in the wolves' minds, how this imprinting thing worked, the most I was sure that I understood it, it was different to see that it was real what they said. That while the object of imprinting were barely a child, like Renesmee, like Claire, the wolves only loved them like a sister, their only goal in mind, to see them grow up… only happy, without actually seeing them _grow up_.

The entire family was gathered, when Mary and Randall announced finally their leaving.

"We're going to miss you all," Mary assured while they were on the door saying goodbye. "but it's time for us to leave. We hope we'll see you again."

"Of course you will," Carlisle whispered.

Mary and Randall, as they had come, left. Their paths would be different.

Renesmee told waved them goodbye until she could no longer see them through the huge glass wall in front of us. Jacob by her side.

Carlisle returned next to the South Americans and their interesting talk.

Esme, Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett stood together by our side almost the entire time. Tanya and Kate, were perhaps, the ones farthest away from us, but not completely. Carmen and Eleazar tried to stay close to them the most possible; just like Garrett, by Kate's side.

Peter and Charlotte stopped the talk amongst our circle, to, just like Mary and Randall, announce their leaving.

Jasper stood up with them, to say goodbye.

Their conversation was short. The farewells between the sometime-brother of Jasper and his mate, were never too long. But this time it was a little bit longer than usual. After all, they hadn't seen him for more than a few minutes since they had come to Forks a month ago. Jasper was thanking them, profusely, for them to have come, and accepted staying and helping our family.

We could all listen, even Renesmee, who was almost ignoring them. Yes, we were all grateful, and it was enough with only Jasper to make it known.

And Alice, through whiles, apologized, lightly, for having _abandoned us_.

But now I understood why she had done it that way. It had to be that way, because I couldn't know absolutely anything at all about the plan Alice had left for Bella to follow through. I had to admit, that they had done it better than what I would've hoped for.

I really hadn't had any idea of what Bella was plotting.

Yes, it had been a very good plan.

Renesmee was now with Bella, and my mind again, focused on the thoughts swirling around endlessly in Nahuel's head.

_If she _lives_ perhaps is because we aren't really monsters,_ Nahuel was trying to find a reason for why Bella, rather, Renesmee did have her mom with her, her birth, he thought, couldn't have been much more different than his. But it had been. _Perhaps I am not evil by nature. Aunt Huilen always has told me so… but Joham… No, I'm sure that my aunt is more right than my… _father, Nahuel wasn't happy about thinking of Joham as his father, thought he was.

In just a few moments, all his life, his existence was changing for good.

I could see, now, that he didn't hate more himself, by seeing us three.

_This is the life my mother should've had_, he was thinking while he remembered the words from Huilen when she told her part of the story to Aro. How his mother had searched for Joham, her _dark angel_, without finding him, and died when she gave birth to Nahuel.

I understood why he felt that way, but I was glad to see, that he was finally starting to be a bit happy to see our life.

Even when this wasn't _his_ life.

Alice was joyously talking, for the last few minutes, according to what I saw, with the Amazons. They were getting, with each second passing, more anxious to get back home immediately. They'd never been away from their home so long before. I smiled lightly when I heard their thoughts, because though they were anxious to get back, they didn't want to leave, either. They'd miss, honestly, Renesmee when they left.

And I knew, too, that Renesmee would miss them.

_Should we leave now?_ Zafrina was wondering while she heard Alice.

Senna, as it was usual, was also thinking about whether it was or not the right moment to leave, or if they should stay a little while longer.

Probably, according to everything I could see in her mind, Kachiri was the one thinking less about leaving, after all, she had barely arrived to Forks. All this time they'd been too close to her home, in the same Amazons, looking for the key witnesses.

I was immensely grateful because people like Renesmee _did_ exist.

Even when those lives, because those ones were more lives than ours, their hearts beat every moment of the day and night, were in danger with the Volturi knowing about their existence, and with one of them, upset about the creation of such lives. Joham had to watch out from the Volturi; from Caius, especially. He wasn't going to rest until getting rid of him.

I wondered, idly, if Joham knew about the Volturi's existence.

Was he aware that someday they would come to him, and could end up exterminated because of his experiments on humans?

For wanting to create, like Nahuel said, a new super-race?

I only wished, actually, that Aro fulfilled his word of not hurting Nahuel's sisters. What fault did they bare about what their father did?

They weren't venomous.

And Nahuel was.

Would it really be by genre, that was why Renesmee wasn't venomous, either?

It didn't matter, really. But that had saved her from Caius using another argument to insist on my daughter's destruction.

Luckily.

Thinking about this, I stayed quiet for a few short seconds, that no one noticed. Everyone was too happy as to get distracted by a silence so meaningless as this one.

After a while, however, Zafrina announced it was time to leave.

"We wouldn't want to," she said while getting up. Senna and Kachiri followed her immediately. "but the truth is, we miss our home."

Senna, that had oddly been the occasion in which we heard a syllable uttered by her, said, "Still, we hope to see you again."

"Of course you will," Esme was the one who answered.

Peter and Charlotte had already said goodbye to Jasper a while ago, and gone.

Bella stood up, with me by her side, and Renesmee in her arms to say goodbye to the Amazons. Perhaps, they had been the coven that we'd grown more fond of. Renesmee was sand, up to certain point, to see them leaving.

Being close enough to Zafrina to place her small hand onto her cheek, she showed her one of the many images Zafrina had entertained her with weeks ago.

It was the Amazon jungle. Renesmee wanted to know it, and Zafrina understood what she wanted.

_The kid will love the jungle…_

"Promise me, young one."

_Oh, it would be wonderful to have her in our home, Kachiri was thinking, given the fact I couldn't met her myself._

Senna agreed with both, in which would be nice to see Renesmee again.

Renesmee turned to see Bella, then, to beg Bella to give her a positive answer. And if, which was impossible, Bella refused, she already had in mind her beg to me.

_Please, mommy!_ I was hearing her thinking.

"Of course, Zafrina," Bella had accepted. No surprise there.

_Yes!_ Renesmee was almost celebrating her mom's answer. As if she really had doubted that was what she was going to get!

How to refuse anything she asked us for? We couldn't, and she knew it.

At the same time, Jacob was also thinking about knowing that place. Because it was obvious he was included on such trip. As he would be for the rest of what? Eternity? Very likely he would. Now it didn't bother me to think so.

"We shall be great friends, my Nessie," Zafrina had assured her while they said goodbye to us, to leave to their land with her sisters.

One thing made it better leaving, they were leaving _together_, at last.

Everyone so far, including the Amazons, had left, begging to us to take care of Nessie.

And to everyone we had promised we would. Though there was no need for them to ask. That, too, they knew.

I knew, without the need of reading minds, that the Irish coven would be the next one to leave. Because even though Tanya and her family couldn't completely stand the joyous and celebratory atmosphere that was over us, so much it was almost tangible, they would be here until the end. They were our family, they kept thinking so, and they wanted to leave after everyone else had said their goodbyes.

It bothered none of us. But I was worried about listening to how much pain I could see in their minds, I wouldn't want to know how much pain there was in their hearts.

And to imagine that it could've been us suffering if it'd been Renesmee!

I banished that thought instantaneously. It hadn't happened, and there was no point worrying about that.

So when the time came to say goodbye to our next friends, I wasn't surprised at all about who they were. Siobhan, Liam and Maggie weren't, as everyone else, very anxious to leave us, but they were of getting back home.

That too I understood too well, just like everyone.

Carlisle was the one who regretted most Siobhan's leaving to be so soon. This stay had been so long, it almost seemed permanent, instead of temporary.

In change, I knew, it would take a short – I hoped – time for us to get used to. But I was sure, that while that change included peace and joy, it wouldn't be very hard to get back to enjoy of only the presence of our family. Everyone else, friends, someday we would see them again, and everyone, especially, Carlisle, were hoping for it to be soon. But for peaceful reasons, and not of emergency or danger as these ones had been. Perhaps next time, they wouldn't recognize Renesmee anymore. She had, probably, three more years to enjoy of her childhood…

"I guess we should go now," Siobhan decided in a not so willing way.

"Now?" Carlisle asked, anxious for his friends to take more time before leaving.

_Oh, we wish we could stay longer, but…_

"Yes, Carlisle, my friend, now," Siobhan agreed with him. "There's no other way."

Maggie and Liam also got on their feet. A small smile on Maggie's face while she heard the truth in Siobhan's words.

Yes, she didn't want to leave, but it was necessary. According to her.

"I hope we can see each other very soon again," Carlisle whispered.

The three Irish nodded to the idea.

Carlisle, while we walked towards the door, kept thinking that this had been doing, or had had Siobhan's help and her _gift_. It seemed, we would never know whether it was her gift or not, actually.

"Well done, Siobhan," Carlisle commented, saying goodbye.

_This turned out well because of you, my dear Siobhan. Then amended his thought. Y because of Alice, of course._

The merit, I could say, it was almost completely Alice's and the South Americans'. I didn't want to think on what would've happened, if they hadn't come in the nick of time. Just before Aro gave his vote, without a good excuse to refuse to attack.

"Ah," Siobhan exclaimed. _I'm sure that it wasn't for such reason, but Carlisle insists._ "the power of wishful thinking," she rolled her eyes while she said it.

I was sure it would be almost impossible to convince her she did have a gift.

Though she says it sarcastically, Carlisle was thinking, I know it works.

"Of course," Siobhan continued, and though I didn't like at all what she was about to say, I also knew she was right. "this isn't over. The Volturi won't forgive what happened here."

_Be sure of that,_ Liam and Maggie were thinking.

_Carlisle on the contrary, I really hope that won't happen. I wouldn't want to see my family in danger again._

I will know when that happens, nothing to worry about, Alice was assuring in her mind.

"They've been seriously shaken; their confidence is shattered," I said, remembering the way I had seen in Aro's mind, especially, while they were waiting for Alec or Jane to incapacitate us to do their _job_, and when that never happened. Even Caius and Marcus had been tense when they saw nothing worked against us. "But, yes, I'm sure they'll recover from the blow someday. And then . . ." I felt my eyes tightening to such image in my mind, like it was already happening. "I imagine they'll try to pick us off separately."

_That would be terrible,_ Esme didn't even want to consider such option.

Tanya and Kate, _we hope that day _anxiously.

_And there will be fight, what can we lose?_

Carmen and Eleazar were also listening, and Eleazar seemed to completely agree with what Siobhan and I were saying.

"Alice will warn us when they intend to strike," Siobhan whispered, her voice full of confidence that it would be so. Because truly, it would. "And we'll gather again."

_If it's necessary, we will._

"Perhaps," Siobhan continued. "the time will come when our world is ready to be free of the Volturi altogether."

"That time may come," Carlisle answered to her words. "If it does, we'll stand together."

"Yes, my friend, we will," was the answer Siobhan gave to Carlisle.

Whether I'm right or not, what will we lose trying?

"And how can we fail, when I will it otherwise?" Siobhan accepted that there could be a minimal possibility of making it thanks to _wishful thinking_. A smile spread across her face, and laughter resounded in the room.

Carlisle smiled. "Exactly,"

When Siobhan answered, Carlisle remembered someone else that could still be hiding until the next century if he didn't hear of how all of this had ended up.

And remembering what I had told them, that he had left because he cared too much about Carlisle as to join the Volturi, something that he saw as inevitable, he thought harder about him.

Hugging shortly Siobhan, he then directed to Liam, shaking his hand.

How we're going to miss you! Siobhan was thinking.

Maggie was only smiling while she listened to the short interchange of words before leaving.

Everyone else, Rose and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, Esme and Renesmee, were thinking about how much they would miss the Irish.

All the friends, of course.

Getting back to normalcy, would be _odd_, but welcomed happily.

It was the thing we wanted the most, I could see it in their minds while we waited for Siobhan, Liam and Maggie to part to their own home.

"Try to find Alistair," Carlisle asked Liam. "and tell him what happened. I'd hate to think of him hiding under a rock for the next decade."

Siobhan answered with laughter again.

_Yes, I can imagine it so easily,_ she was thinking amused about the image in her head. Because truly, it was easy to imagine such image of Alistair hidden under a rock. For some reason Carlisle had said it that way.

"We'll miss you," it was the last thing Maggie said, hugging Renesmee and Bella.

After that, the three of them were gone.

A mixture of emotions and feelings I was listening to while they got farther away, until their thought were too far away for me to keep listening.

They didn't make it too far, my mind was too focused solely on my Bella, and my Renesmee.

I smiled for no apparent reason to myself. I had them with me, and that was reason enough to smile at the world.

That's what we had been fighting for in the last months, and finally I could say, fearless of it not that being that way, that something evil was creeping towards us to snatch away our happiness and our company, I had them with me FOREVER! What was better than that? Nothing, absolutely nothing at all. My family was intact, and stronger and more united than ever before. It would be like that for the rest of eternity, now with the security of knowing it truly would. No fears, no uncertainties, nothing, only happiness. Could it be real all this happiness? I felt as if I needed to be pinched, if I _would've_ felt such pain, to make sure this wasn't a dream or a fantasy.

But I knew it wasn't. Nothing more real and substantial than my angels.

I didn't know what to compare the happiness flooding inside of me now with. Because I had never felt this happiness for two people before, for the health and security of two people in my world. My daughter, and my wife. It was the only thing I cared about now, and it made me happy to know them by my side, under my protection. To know that after these weeks of worry and anxiety, they could finally smile and just enjoy of the company of each other.

I would only have to make sure it continued this way. I knew that Bella would be happy as long as she was with me, and I with her; even in death. But Renesmee, I couldn't conceive the idea of her leaving this world even if we did. She would have someone to be with. I knew that Jacob would never abandon her, ever.

I was worrying, though very lightly, because the joy of knowing her sound and save now, and in the _future_, made it hard for me to worry unnecessarily. So I calmed down, and stopped thinking about that for now.

Renesmee was on Bella's lap now, but her face turned to see me pretty often. In her mind I was seeing, as if she were afraid that anyone of us might disappear at any moment.

"I'm never leaving you, Nessie," I told her one of the many times I saw that thought in her mind. "Neither will I, nor will your mom."

Renesmee had only answered with a huge grin on her face, that made the rest of the family smile.

I heard Nahuel again.

_That's what my _father_ should've said_, it was clear, though he'd already said it, that he didn't like at all the father he had been given. I was glad, at least, that my Renesmee did like the father I was to her.

After a few short five minutes, Tanya and Kate decided it was time to leave, too. They didn't want to, they enjoyed of the companionship of our family, but the celebration and happiness that was there in everyone was impossible to retain, and that was too much for them, even for Carmen and Eleazar, though they bore it a bit more. It was different the relation between them and Irina.

It was unfortunate that everything had to end up like this with Irina, though it was her fault all of this, and she would've _earned it_, if it could be said, her punishment, it'd been unfair. Because if she had known that Renesmee wasn't an immortal child, she would never have accused us of such a lie. She had died for nothing. Everyone, including unknown, knew it.

I sighed, there was nothing to do to be able to save her, it wasn't as if there had been something at the moment.

Tanya knew that something like that'd happen, but that didn't stop her from hurting her to have lost her sister. Just like Kate.

"_It's just… I'm afraid they'd punish her for her mistake."_

I was listening to the words of that conversation, and of other times in which Tanya had worried about the same thing, while they started to want to say goodbye.

_We should've known, but even though we would've been prepared for such thing, we would've suffered just the same, Kate was regretting._

Carmen and Eleazar also felt the loss of Irina.

"It all ends here, right?" Tanya asked when we were on the porch.

Carlisle was the one who answered, no one better than him to give words of encouragement. He had certain way to make everyone else feel better.

"Tanya, Kate, this doesn't end here. Irina's death is so unfortunate, but we must go on. You know you can count on us, always," he said while he hugged each of the sisters.

Esme rushed to affirm what Carlisle had said. "That's right, Tanya. You can count on us," she smiled. "You know."

It was hard to smile, but they all did it the best they could. "Thank you, Esme," Tanya murmured.

_But it's not enough, Kate was thinking. I wish it was, but it's not._

Garrett was Kate's side, where he would be for the rest of eternity. I was glad because of that, that at least Kate had someone else she could lean on when she needed to. The love of a family was strong, but this kind of love was very different.

It was sad, that they suffered so much while we were so happy.

Irina's death had been unjustified, everything to cause a reaction of hatred towards Caius or the Volturi together, and that to cause an attack from our side. That had been Caius' goal when he did so, not to punish her mistake, but the perfect excuse to attack; to attack. The attack would've turned out into a confrontation, just what Caius had wanted at the moment, to have a new excuse to have destroyed us. There was no more immortal child.

I didn't completely understand, that dangerous and evil desire of Caius to finish off with everyone else. I had seen it in him when Irina was being reduced to ashes in front of him.

"I'm so sorry things had turned that way," I whispered to Tanya and Kate.

We knew it would be that way, thought we didn't want to think so. Tanya reminded me of the conversation we'd had.

"We know, Edward," Kate whispered back.

Carmen and Eleazar kept silent.

_This is so sad,_ Esme was thinking while looking at the sisters.

"Yes, but we have to leave," Tanya continued.

_This is too much._

"We're sorry we can't stay any longer," Eleazar said after Tanya. "But you have to understand why it's time to leave."

Carlisle and I nodded.

"We'll see each other again," Carlisle promised.

"I hope so," Kate said, Carmen nodded by her side.

"Yes," Carmen whispered. "I hope you'll take Nessie to Alaska soon. She'll love it, I'm sure."

"As soon as we can," Bella was who answered to Carmen's request.

The four of them said goodbye, Carmen hugged and kissed Renesmee's forehead before saying goodbye to her, murmuring in Spanish. To surprise of everyone, even mine, my daughter answered back in Spanish to Carmen. Tanya and Kate shared a hug with everyone, Eleazar shook hands with us, just the same with Garrett, who was hoping like the Denalis, to see us soon.

The only ones who stayed back last, were Nahuel and Huilen, who had decided to stay after the Amazons had left.

It seemed like Nahuel couldn't leave, nor apart his eyes from our small family.

I wondered if Bella noticed it. It would be hard to not feel Nahuel's eyes nailed on her face while I told them the story.

"Go on," Emmett asked excitedly, when we returned to the living room after saying goodbye to the Denalis. Only Carlisle and the South Americans weren't as anxious as the rest of the family to hear what I had to say, to hear what had been going on at the other side. The conversation had Carlisle marveled, while he was told about how their life style was, especially Nahuel's, who was like Renesmee. Huilen was like us.

The night was falling while I kept telling the story, and Renesmee had fallen asleep as soon as the Denali coven had left. I was glad to see how her dreams were full of colors of happiness, any stain of darkness or sadness was invading her rest in her mother's arms.

"So it was a combination of things there at the end, but what it really boiled down to was… Bella," I concluded at last, remembering everything in my head while I told it.

Still, my mind was also intent on the conversation that Carlisle was keeping with Huilen. Nahuel kept silent the whole time, his eyes never taking off of Bella for not even a second, that made me wonder if it didn't make Bella uncomfortable. She wasn't a fan of the attention, much less when that attention was on her.

_We know, Bella was the one who saved everyone. If it weren't for her shield, I'm still surprised, Edward, Alice was telling me, a shield!_

But it hadn't _exclusively_ been Bella who saved us all. "Alice gave Aro the excuse he needed to get out of the fight. If he hadn't been so terrified of Bella, he probably would have gone ahead with their original plan."

Alice quickly introduced something in my mind, _I got here in the nick of time…_

I smiled slightly and nodded.

_Terrified? Of Bella? Ha!_ I heard Jacob, to him she would always be the Bella human.

Emmett on the other hand, _Ooooh, little brother, you've got a Volturi-scarer,_ he joked with me. I obviously ignored him. It was so normal in him to joke about everything. Even about serious and dangerous stuff. That I had learned during the last sixty years by his side.

Rosalie and Esme were considering the option of Aro having being terrified of Bella, and they knew it was something logical.

"Terrified?" I heard Bella asking me. And I knew that I shouldn't be surprised by hearing her tone. But, how was it possible that she didn't understand her potential? For some reason Aro refused to continue Caius' procedure. To cause a fight. He wasn't prepared to lose his power and reputation just to acquire two or three new powers in his lines of battle. "Of me?"

_I told you,_ Alice told me, but left it there.

_She's right,_ Emmett thought, _who would be afraid of my little sister?_

I smiled at my Bella's face, then looking into her eyes, there was certain confusion in the depths of her eyes. Because thought the melted chocolate had gone, the depth of her look had stayed intact. I could still read in her eyes each emotion that crossed her mind.

I couldn't believe that she still doubted of what she could do. More now that she was a vampire. But after _she_ had feared _them_ so much, I understood she doubted it was now reverse.

My sweet Bella.

But, how to have fear or respect, when nothing could do against her mind?

"_You don't see yourself very clearly, you know,"_ I remembered that day in the cafeteria, of course that blindness wasn't the same one as the one I was now thinking of.

"_I told you — you don't see yourself clearly at all. You're not like anyone I've ever known. You fascinate me."_

And once again, I would have another line in her memory alike to the so many there already was. Still smiling, and a bit exasperated when I saw that she still didn't believe what so many times I'd already told her and tried to make her believe my words, I told her, "When will you ever see yourself clearly?"

_Ahm_, Alice thought. As if the question had been meant for _her_! _I don't think that'll happen._

Yes, I also doubted it. But I had eternity to make her see herself as she really was. Yes, I had eternity, and I was even happier than before.

The excitement of that thought, made me speak louder than normal. But no one noticed the change actually, it seemed like I was just simply speaking in a louder voice to make clear I was talking to everyone now.

"The Volturi haven't fought a fair fight in about twenty-five hundred years," I kept telling them, remembering all of this seen from the Volturi's minds. "And they've never, never fought one where they were at a disadvantage. Especially since they gained Jane and Alec, they've only been involved with unopposed slaughterings."

_Luckily it wasn't that way,_ Esme was thinking, half-scared by the simple option of her family having been destroyed.

Carlisle even now was listening a little bit more intent of what I was saying.

I continued. "You should have seen how we looked to them! Usually, Alec cuts off all sense and feeling from their victims while they go through the charade of a counsel. That way, no one can run when the verdict is given. But there we stood, ready, waiting, outnumbering them, with gifts of our own while their gifts were rendered useless by Bella. Aro knew that with Zafrina on our side, they would be the blind ones when the battle commenced. I'm sure our numbers would have been pretty severely decimated, but they were sure that theirs would be, too. There was even a good possibility that they would lose. They've never dealt with that possibility before. They didn't deal with it well today."

_Of course not_, Emmett thought while his mind was remembering the moment in which the Volturi had stopped their advance as soon as the wolves had come out into the light.

He was right, because that had been another reason for their fear. The wolves.

The _werewolves_ as everyone think they were. Caius had been more terrified of the sixteen wolves behind us, than of Bella's shield, like Aro. Even more so when he saw them so _organized_ and _calmed_ beside another group of vampires. United, not fighting.

How had it been possible? It was the only question that had been spinning around in Caius' mind.

"Hard to feel confident when you're surrounded by horse-sized wolves," Emmett put his thoughts into words. Describing what it had happened as if he'd been the one reading it through their minds when they saw the wolves. It'd happened exactly that way.

Emmett laughed when he said it, while he mockingly punched Jacob's arm.

_They're not the first one fearing them,_ he said remembering the fight in the meadow a few months ago with the newborns.

I was shocked for a second when I heard no comment at all followed after Emmett of despair or something alike, coming from Rosalie, of course. It seemed like every feeling of despair or hatred in her had disappeared, not completely, we were still natural enemies, but it seemed like she could stand him more easily after everything that had happened today.

Another thing to make this day better. It would reign the peace completely in our family from here ahead.

Jacob smiled at Emmett, he knew something like this would happen, didn't he? He asked me.

Vampires, not only the ones of our family, now knew that the wolves weren't afraid of the Volturi, and that they were capable and were willing to fight for a good reason. Everyone had remembered Jacob's words as they had seen the pack behind them.

"It was the wolves that stopped them in the first place," Bella murmured, trying to take away the attention from her, clearly.

It didn't surprise me.

But again, she was right, like Emmett.

Because they _had_ been the wolves who had made them stop. Whether it was out of surprise at the beginning or fear after, but it had been that way. I owed them again my gratitude. They too had given our group advantage over the Volturi.

"Sure was," Jacob said, agreeing with Bella.

"Absolutely," I agreed with them, too. It was impossible not to.

_We're lucky to have had as allies,_ Carlisle was thankful.

Esme was too.

Alice and Jasper, just the same. Even though Alice had whined hundreds of times about having them involved in this, and that prevented her from being able to see a lot of stuff clearly of the future. Being sure of which would be the outcome of this confrontation. But she was happy that they had been part of our allies, because the blindness of her visions had been worthy.

"That was another sight they've never seen. The true Children of the Moon," I said while I prepared to explain the doubts that would follow my words. "rarely move in packs, and they are never much in control of themselves. Sixteen enormous regimented wolves was a surprise they weren't prepared for. Caius is actually terrified of werewolves. He almost lost a fight with one a few thousand years ago and never got over it."

None of the members of my family was surprised when they heard what I was saying, but I could feel a tensing on Bella while I explained. Carlisle and I had already talked about this, from the moment in which Bella had told me, that our _presence_ here in Forks had unleashed the fever, as they called it, amongst the Quileutes.

"The werewolves came back because the vampires did," I heard my Bella's voice again.

"_Jacob told me that your family being here set things in motion."_

We had already considered that their shapes were something more than normal in werewolves. We had seen them in the full day light… but Bella's words had simply turned it into a fact.

They were not _were_wolves.

Jacob was so confused as the time in the meadow, when Aro and I had repeated that Jacob and his pack weren't werewolves, not like the ones he believed they were.

"So there are real werewolves?" I asked. "With the full moon and silver bullets and all that?"

Emmett joked about that in his mind, I ignored.

_What would she think of us?_ Jasper thought, while he listened to Bella saying _really_, considering that us either fit in with what was known or read about vampires. He should've listened to the questions she had made to me that night in which she'd confessed me that she knew our secret, that she knew what we were.

"_Don't laugh — but how can you come out during the daytime?"_

I'd laughed despite her request. _"Myth."_

"_Burned by the sun?"_

"_Myth."_

"_Sleeping in coffins?"_

"_Myth. I can't sleep."_

Carlisle, on the other hand, took very seriously the ignorance in which Jacob himself seemed to be at about his specie.

_Now I understand his skepticism about the _magic_ of his kind and people_, Carlisle was thinking while he remembered the time in which he'd commented such thing to Jacob, and his upset when hearing it. But it was, it was almost magic.

Jacob, between jokingly, and _little_, very little upset, snorted. "Real. Does that make me imaginary?"

"You know what I mean," was the answer.

"Full moon, yes," I answered them, extending my description of both werewolves. "Silver bullets, no—that was just another one of those myths to make humans feel like they had a sporting chance. There aren't very many of them left. Caius has had them hunted into near extinction."

_This will be interesting information to share_, Jacob was considering, knowing that the wolves would be waiting for an explanation of what I'd said in the meadow.

Or something alike.

Doubt and expectation showed up in Bella's eyes, the little V between her eyes. "And you never mentioned this because…?"

_Yes, why?_ Jacob asked, too.

"It never came up."

Bella didn't say anything, just rolled her eyes to my comment. It was true, anyway.

_Never came up? Huh?_

Alice laughed by my side when she heard me, everyone else simply laughed.

I felt, with my arm above Alice's shoulders, how she leaned forward toward Bella when she laughed, and winked at her.

_It feels so good to be back home again_, she was thinking joyfully. But I knew, somehow, what was coming. Because it had nothing to do with Renesmee, and it was in a future too close. Alice knew it, and thanked for being able to see it before and that it didn't take her by surprise.

_I deserve it, she thought, I know, I know._

Some of bother started to reflect on Bella's eyes when she looked at Alice, and I imagined why. Jasper, too, felt the change in her emotions.

_I guess Bella wasn't very happy about what Alice made her go through, eh, Edward? Jasper joked._

And she was right to be upset. Barely now, it was when I could imagine the better everything Bella went through, alone. Because she couldn't take it all out with absolutely anyone at all about what she knew, what she believed to be sure, everything she had to do, and kept it secret from me. Because it would've been just as hard for me to be in her position.

If I could, I would also be upset with Alice. But I had already seen all the pain Alice had felt when she took the decision of leaving and not leaving behind with her any hope of salvation, so Aro would truly believe she had abandoned us when he saw my thoughts.

_Thank you for understanding,_ Alice thought.

Alice sighed, knowing it was better for Bella to say it already. "Just get it off your chest, Bella."

"How could you do that to me, Alice?" the tone of her voice wasn't loud, but almost by very little, hysterical.

Attention centered at this little moment on Alice and Bella.

Rosalie was on both their sides, understanding how hard, firstly, should've been for Bella to believe we were condemned to die in a sure way, that that's why Alice had abandoned us, to have believed that there was no other option for our family; but, she also understood for what Alice had gone through.

Esme only wanted this to get fixed _now_.

She was too happy to have her family together again, as to worry about details, that now, were insignificant.

"It was necessary," Alice explained.

"Necessary!" now Bella's voice was of a louder volume. "You had me totally convinced that we were all going to die! I've been a wreck for weeks."

_Doesn't she understand why I did it still? Why I had to do it? As if I'd been very happy about it!_ Alice was starting to get upset about Bella's attitude, but she tried to keep herself calm when she had to say something back.

"It might have gone that way," Alice reminded her. Because surely Bella understood, according to her, that she'd done to because of that unknown possibility to her. "In which case you needed to be prepared to save Nessie."

I felt Bella tightening her arms around Nessie when Alice said that, even Jacob and everyone else, included myself, shuddered when we thought that that had been a possibility. That it could've been true. But it wasn't, I reminded myself, so I could calm myself. Nessie was calm and peacefully asleep in the arms of Bella, by my side, I had nothing to worry about. Not anymore.

Her plan formed before she went out of the house? Rosalie was wondering, or did she think of it while they were leaving?

The plan had formed so quickly in Alice's mind, as if it had already been destined to be like that, that's why the first vision that she hadn't allowed me to see in her mind, had been that of the Amazon jungle. Since they had named Zafrina and her coven, Alice had remembered, now I saw, the woman I had talked them about when we'd gotten back from Isle Esme, of her knowledge of that demon called Libishomen, and the _thing_ that was growing inside of Bella…

She had been fast, so much that I was now impressed.

"But you knew there were other ways, too," Bella murmured, her tone accusing. And everyone understood the reason why. "You knew there was hope. Did it ever occur to you that you could have told me everything? I know Edward had to think we were at a dead end for Aro's sake, but you could have told me."

I felt a little bit guilty, though I knew I didn't have to. But if it hadn't been because of my _gift_, and because Aro would know everything that I'd heard during the last few months, Alice wouldn't have needed to lie to us, Bella wouldn't have to go through all of this.

No, I knew that even without my gift, Alice would have had to do it the same way. So I banished that thought and the feeling of guilt. There was no reason for that.

_Tell her?_ Alice was musing while she saw Bella. _I know she sucks at lying, and that doesn't make her a good actress by consequence…_

That I already knew, from the beginning I'd known how bad of an actress she could be. When I thought about it…

"_Breakfast time,"_ I'd said, to prove that I remembered Bella's needs as a human, that first morning we had spent together in her room.

I clearly saw in my mind how her hand had gone up to her throat, and the shock I'd felt when I saw her reaction.

"_Kidding!"_ Bella had said between chuckles. _"And you said I couldn't act!"_

Frowning because of her _joke_, I had murmured. _"That wasn't funny."_

So I understood why Alice had decided to not be completely honest with Bella, but she could've given her a few details. Now I saw seeing in her mind what it was exactly that she'd told her and what she hadn't. She hadn't even told her what she was going to do with J. Jenks.

How was Bella supposed to know that he was forger of documents?

She had done it harder than necessary.

"I don't think so," Alice finally responded. "You're just not that good an actress."

"This was about my acting skills?" Bella asked, her voice a little bit exasperated.

_A little bit more understanding she could be,_ Rosalie thought.

Esme understood both of them, as always, and regretted that the two of them had went through a bad time.

And I knew what was coming. Alice hadn't had a great moment of fun away from the family, so her speech left us all stunned into silence. Because no one had heard yet about what she'd done in a more exact way while she was away from home.

Well, now they'd know with a little bit more details.

Jasper sighed so slightly that anyone noticed it, because he felt the upset growing inside of Alice.

"Oh, take it down an octave, Bella," Alice started, demanding in a way. "Do you have any idea how complicated this was to set up? I couldn't even be sure that someone like Nahuel existed—all I knew was that I would be looking for something I couldn't see! Try to imagine searching for a blind spot—not the easiest thing I've ever done. Plus we had to send back the key witnesses, like we weren't in enough of a hurry. And then keeping my eyes open all the time" – unconsciously, I knew, Alice opened a little bit more her eyes as to show how she'd been – "in case you decided to throw me any more instructions."

A new image appeared in her mind.

It was in Alice's empty bedroom, Bella had in her hands a blank piece of paper, and then she wrote with deliberate slowness, _RIO DE JANEIRO_, then the memory disappeared.

"At some point you're going to have to tell me what exactly is in Rio. Before any of that,"

I smiled to myself.

How did Alice not understand why Bella had chosen Rio de Janeiro?

Even I myself understood it. The last new we'd had from Alice and Jasper had come from the Amazons, Alice had asked Kachiri her help, so we all had deduced that they were in Brazil. If Renesmee survived, the best place for Jacob to take her, was to a completely faraway place. We had never been able to investigate about Renesmee's accelerated growth, that was what we were going to do before Alice's vision, so it was obvious that Bella had wanted to send them to that place. Jacob would investigate, and by doing so, Alice would see what she was planning to happen with Nessie and Jacob, wanted them to find them, to protect them too. Bella had been very thorough too.

"I had to try to see every trick the Volturi," Alice continued, complaining, there was no other description to what she was doing. "might come in with and give you what few clues I could so you would be ready for their strategy, and I only had just a few hours to trace out all the possibilities. Most of all, I had to make sure you'd all believe that I was ditching out on you, because Aro had to be positive that you had nothing left up your sleeves or he never would have committed to an out the way he did. And if you think I didn't feel like a schmuck—"

Everyone got shocked just the same as stunned with Alice's description, even our last two guests.

But Bella interrupted her before she could go on. "Okay, okay! Sorry! I know it was rough for you, too. It's just that… well, I missed you like crazy, Alice. Don't do that to me again."

Alice laughed, her typical Alice's laughter, she could only smile that way, and just listening to her again amongst us, made us all smile. We were all so much happier than we would've been if things had only turned out well, because Alice and Jasper were back, the family was together once again. What else could we ask for?

_I missed her so much, too!_ Rosalie was thinking.

_Esme, she was a missing piece. But my children are back._

"I missed you, too, Bella" Alice whispered. "So forgive me, and try to be satisfied with being the superhero of the day."

Bella's reaction to Alice's words and our laughter didn't surprise me.

I knew that if she could've, her face would've been now red. The embarrassment crossed her eyes so clearly that everyone else recognized her aversion to attention.

_Would she ever get over it?_ Alice joked.

Bella, then, hid her face in Renesmee's hair.

The only one who stayed the same way, was Jacob. There was no reaction in him, like in everyone else, when they saw Bella. He simply, too, recognized that she didn't like the attention spinning around her in these moments. After all, to him, she was still the same Bella human from a few months ago.

But it was more than seeing her different. Because she was different.

Not only because of her power, for having saved us, for having done that the Volturi ran out of here scared about the possibility of what her shield could do, it was more than that.

Now I saw, how Bella seemed to have been made to this life. As if this had been the goal she'd come to this world for, for why _maybe_ I had also come to this existence. Because Alice had seen that Bella would be one of us before even I myself knew that I loved her, this had been written before we were even born, probably. We had been made the one for the other.

That truth made me happier than before.

My mind was divided in two while I was talking and answering to the question that the members of my family still had about what had happened. Jasper and Emmett were the ones who wanted the most to hear about what had gone through the minds of the Volturi before leaving.

They regretted, up to a point, that it hadn't gotten to a fight. But there were happier about the way it had turned out.

"So it was Caius the coward?" Emmett asked, in a mocking tone. "But if it was him who showed desires of a fight."

In his mind he remembered the moment when he tried to tempt us, with Irina's death.

"He wanted it, but he had no idea that Bella had a shield that made that neither Jane nor Alec could attack us. Or Chelsea to separate us," I told him.

"We were lucky, still," Jasper whispered. "I'm sure that Caius would've preferred to die before letting us go as if nothing at all. Like Aro wanted and did."

"You're right," I agreed with Jasper. "But he was so scared, that he didn't even think of all the strategies that they had planned after his speech or insistence on protecting our secret failed on the side of his _witnesses_. Nobody really believed that Renesmee was as dangerous as they argued."

While minutes passed, I felt more and more anxious to get back to our cottage with Renesmee. This was no longer _my_ house, it was my family's.

The questions for me were finished after a while, and I was thankful.

Bella turned to see me after a few seconds, her eyes were telling me everything. She wanted to go home as much as I wanted.

"Should we take Nessie…"

"That's probably a good idea," I whispered immediately, knowing what she meant. She also wanted our small daughter to be in her crib again, safe and sound inside the four walls of her own room. And then I remembered why it might be good for her to be once again in her own bedroom. "I'm sure she didn't sleep soundly last night, what with all the snoring."

Then I grinned hugely to Jacob, to make it clear what I meant. Though it was without me having to see him. Because he quickly knew what I was talking about.

_Yes well, she snores, too, he said jokingly._

But he rolled his eyes, and being so tired as any other normal human would be after all the physical and emotional stress from the last few weeks, and the long day we had today, he said, "It's been a while since I slept in a bed. I bet my dad would get a kick out of having me under his roof again."

Bella touched Jacob's cheek, who was sitting in front of her and Nessie. "Thank you, Jacob."

"Anytime, Bella," Jacob answered, and then he assured her. "But you already know that."

After that, he stood up to say goodbye, leaned down towards Renesmee to place a kiss on her forehead, and then on Bella's. And to say goodbye to me, he dedicated me a jokingly punch on the shoulder.

"See you guys tomorrow," Jacob said. Again, Rosalie didn't complain when he heard him. "I guess things are going to be kind of boring now, aren't they?"

"I fervently hope so," I whispered in response.

The only one of the vampires inside the house, that now wished, that we didn't leave when he heard us decide to go to our home, was the half-human too, of Nahuel. I could see that if he could've, he would follow us once we left the house. He wanted to see how it was our life, how our family was, how different we were from what _his_ had been.

It was a little bit frustrating to not be able to ask Carlisle to stop asking pretty often, how Nahuel's birth had happened, to see the images of his mother, Pire, dying while she gave birth… it was like remembering that our Bella could've ended up that way.

I thanked like never before, that it hadn't been that way.

Bella waited until Jacob had left so we stood up and finally leave ourselves to our home. It was a strange sensation that was running through me, we weren't under any deadline behind us anymore, that was rushing us to live more quickly and without enjoying of ourselves, of our family, so it almost felt like relief to get up and know that destination was our home. At last, as I always had wished for, would be the place where we would raise Renesmee, quietly and without hurry for at least a few more years. I was in ecstasy.

While we were getting up, I felt Bella accommodating Renesmee, surely so she wouldn't move her some way that bother her, or made her uncomfortable. She was soundly asleep.

Jasper was now by Esme's and Alice's side, who had moved besides them immediately.

Still between my mother and my sister, forming part of the family more than was his usual, he was happy to feel himself between them. Just as I had seen it before in his mind, there was still the sentiment of excitement about being back. Just like Alice.

I felt Bella stopping when she turned towards the door, and then she spoke to Jasper. "Oh, Jasper?"

"Yes, Bella?" Jasper answered.

_What would it be?_ He was wondering, because it radiated from Bella a big curiosity. The same one I was feeling about knowing what Bella wanted from Jasper.

Alice didn't say anything, but it seemed like she had a slight idea of the following question.

"I'm curious—why is J. Jenks scared stiff by just the sound of your name?"

_Oh! Jasper thought, that._

Alice only smiled, trying to imagine the reaction of J to Bella when he met her.

Hmm…

"It's just been my experience" Jasper whispered between chuckles. "that some kinds of working relationships are better motivated by fear than by monetary gain."

Jasper, like Alice, could imagine J's reaction to her, too. And knowing Bella, how _kind_ she should've been with him. I was almost sure that our forger of documents would have invited Bella to be her who looking him out in case he was needed again.

Well, it wouldn't be necessary.

Bella only frowned in response.

Esme and Alice stood up, Carlisle excused himself for a moment to the South Americans, and Rose and Emmett also reached us at the door to say goodbye for tonight. It was hard to say goodbye, after so much tension, but it was even easier than before, because we knew, we have the confidence that tomorrow would come, for everyone. The fight had finished.

"We'll see you tomorrow, kids," Carlisle said goodbye.

Esme hugged us and kissed the three of us, while she returned to Carlisle's side with the South Americans.

_Do they have to leave?_ Nahuel was thinking while he saw them saying goodbye to us. His eyes didn't leave Bella's face.

"Sleep sweetly," Rosalie whispered while she kissed Renesmee's forehead.

Emmett simply said _good night_ in a sarcastic way.

But the atmosphere was so pleasurable, so quiet after all this time, that not even Bella could get upset about the tone Emmett was using.

I just took Bella's hand after we crossed the river, our speed never faster than that of a human. I knew that Bella didn't want any more rushes in our life, more worries about our time.

We wouldn't. We had eternity.

But while we walked, and I was listening to the thoughts inside of the house, I heard Nahuel, thinking now on Nessie lightly…

And that reminded me, "I have to say," I whispered to Bella. "I'm thoroughly impressed with Jacob right now."

But Bella misunderstood my comment. "The wolves make quite an impact, don't they?"

"That's not what I mean," I corrected her. "Not once today did he think about the fact that, according to Nahuel, Nessie will be fully matured in just six and a half years."

It was truly impressive. I had to accept it.

Bella didn't say anything, thinking on what I'd told her, for a minute. My mind and mi curiosity were flaming inside my head, wanting to listen even if it only was a whisper of her hidden thoughts of me. But again, I knew that would never happen.

They were forbidden to me for eternity, it seemed.

"He doesn't see her that way. He's not in a hurry for her to grow up. He just wants her to be happy."

I already knew that. But it didn't take the merit to the way it worked this of the imprinting thing. They really were fortunate, to be able to find, in a way, their soul mates, even when they couldn't still treat them as such.

What I wouldn't give to know Bella in her years of childhood! Even it only was in her thoughts.

"I know," I agreed with her. "Like I said, impressive. It goes against the grain to say so, but she could do worse."

Bella frowned when I was finished, and then said. "I'm not going to think about that for approximately six and a half more years."

I laughed about her words, she was right.

Why think of the future while we could enjoy our present? It was already perfect.

I stopped and sighed. I didn't like to even think of Jacob as _mate_ of Renesmee when she reached those years in such a short time, much less that there another one of her _kind_ that was willing to meet her when she was grown-up enough to think of him.

"Of course," I still commented. "it looks like he'll have some competition to worry about when the time comes."

I knew that Bella wouldn't like my comment, and when the frown on her forehead got more prominent, which didn't surprise me. Any parent wanted to think about that when their daughter was still barely four-moths old…

"I noticed," Bella told me. "I'm grateful to Nahuel for today, but all the staring was a little weird. I don't care if she is the only half-vampire he's not related to."

Ah, my Bella, again misunderstanding the _looks_. Some of reason there was in the other thing. Not completely.

"Oh, he wasn't staring at her—he was staring at you."

"Why would he do that?" Bella asked, her tone confused. She didn't understand.

And no one else who couldn't read his mind.

"Because you're alive," my voice came out in barely a whisper. His story was sad, and I couldn't get out of my head, that it could've been the same ending of _our_ story.

"You lost me."

Of course I did.

"All his life —and he's fifty years older than I am—" I was about to continue, when Bella interrupted me.

"Decrepit."

But I didn't understand why, so I ignored her comment, and continued explaining what she seemed to not understand. "He's always thought of himself as an evil creation, a murderer by nature. His sisters all killed their mothers as well, but they thought nothing of it. Joham raised them to think of the humans as animals, while they were gods. But Nahuel was taught by Huilen, and Huilen loved her sister more than anyone else. It shaped his whole perspective. And, in some ways, he truly hated himself."

Bella's expression changed immediately when she heard the last thing. Her eyes turned softer and gentler, the corners of her mouth twitched into a little grimace of sadness.

"That's so sad."

"And then he saw the three of us—and realized for the first time that just because he is half immortal, it doesn't mean he is inherently evil. He looks at me and sees… what his father should have been."

Again, I expected her answer. "You are fairly ideal in every way."

I expected it, but I still couldn't help snorting at the way she still saw me. "He looks at you," I said, now serious. "and sees the life his mother should have had."

"Poor Nahuel," Bella murmured, followed by a sigh.

But, now, there was no reason for anyone to feel bad about him.

"Don't be sad for him. He's happy now. Today, he's finally begun to forgive himself."

Bella didn't answer anything back, I just looked at her from the corner of my eye smiling when she heard me. And I smiled by seeing her smiling, it was simply impossible for me to not react to such smile. Full of happiness, and free of fears or tension. I knew, because of her look, that not only thinking of what I had told her, was what filled her of joy at this moment. And I understood why.

We continued walking towards our home, always hand-in-hand. There was nothing, now, that could separate us. Eternity was getting bigger in front of us, and Renesmee would be there.

When we reached the cottage, we walked in quietly, straight to Renesmee's room.

After leaving her completely and peacefully asleep, smiling while we get her comfortable into the silky, pink sheets, how it made us happy. Bella took the necklace that Aro had sent to her as a wedding gift months ago, and threw it softly into one of the corners of her room. We then walked out of her room, our hands joined once again. There was nothing else that I'd want, than to be with her, and again, we had eternity assured…

Was there something else I could wish for? No, there wasn't. I was sure of that.

While we walked, unhurriedly, towards our bedroom, our hands hanging together between us, a current of excitement ran through me.

"A night for celebrations," I _offered_ Bella gently, while I placed my hand under her chin, to then pull her lips to mine.

Then she did something I never expected her to. "Wait," she said, pulling away from me.

What? What I'd done?

She didn't want to…?

"I want to try something," Bella whispered, as an explanation when she saw my expression and the confusion emanating from my face. A small smile was on her face while she told me so.

Then she placed both her hands on each side of my face, her eyes closing.

What was she trying?

A few seconds of silence passed by, that seemed like an eternity, while Bella kept her eyes closed, her hands on each side of my face. I didn't understand what she was wanted to try, as she'd told me before.

I kept still, my eyes on her closed eyelids.

Only once voice was flooding my mind at this moment, Renesmee's and her dreams, and then, another voice filled my mind, suddenly, from out of nowhere…

_It still wasn't anywhere near as easy as shielding other people along with myself._

Wait! What? Was… was that… Bella?

A moment of skepticism left me frozen when I heard her voice in my mind, my eyes were still on her face, and they hadn't opened, neither her lips.

Could it be her mind I was listening to?

"Bella!" I whispered, almost scared about what was happening, my voice full of shock and impression.

But I didn't get an answer, on the contrary, I heard once again her voice in my head.

I knew it was working then…

How was it possible that…? But I couldn't concentrate on my questions at that moment, because now images were flooding my mind. It wasn't only her voice.

I simply couldn't believe that I was seeing my face from Bella's mind.

_It was there, I heard her, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them… The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair… It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful — maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy…_

"_Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?"_

"_That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." I wondered when he'd turned her down._

I was having a difficult time trying to understand what was happening, even when I could see the images that I myself had lived through two years ago. The first time she'd seen me, the first time I'd seen her with my own eyes.

I had been _her_ chosen one from the first moment.

And then another memory was filling my memory. I couldn't force my eyes to close and to only see what she was showing me. It had to be her. My eyes kept looking to her closed eyes in front of me.

_His beauty stunned my mind — it was too much, an excess I couldn't grow accustomed to…_

"_I was thinking, while I was running…"_ I heard myself once again. The way my voice sounded to her, for the first time.

"_About not hitting the trees, I hope."_

"_Silly, Bella," I heard my laugh. "Running is second nature to me, it's not something I have to think about."_

"_Show-off."_

My smile through her eyes…

"_No, I was thinking there was something I wanted to try,"_ then I had her face in my hands, in my mind the two memories were filling my memory. I tried to push my own away and focus on what Bella was showing me. I felt as if any moment the miracle would be over.

_I couldn't breathe…_ but in her mind I saw the reason why.

And then our lips were joined. The force of my excitement filled my mind for a second, and then I saw what had passed through _her_ mind.

_Blood boiled under my skin, burned in my lips…_

"_Oops,"_ Bella had whispered as other many times.

"_That's an understatement."_

Now that I read her reaction straight from her mind, it was much better the sensation of that first time, when I could only have known that she liked having my lips on hers when I felt her hands tangling through my hair, pulling me towards her with enthusiasm, her lips opening up to…

"_Are you still faint from the run? Or was it my kissing expertise?" How lighthearted, how human he seemed as he laughed now, his seraphic face untroubled. He was a different Edward than the one I had known. And I felt all the more besotted by him…_

"_I can't be sure, I'm still woozy. I think it's some of both, though."_

I didn't know well why this memory was the next one to fill my mind, but I didn't reject it.

How many times had I _dreamed_ about being able to have even the slightest glimpse into her mind? I was having more than what I once had imagined.

_As I drifted, I dreamed… Where I floated, under the dark water, I heard the happiest sound my mind could conjure up — as beautiful, as uplifting… And then I knew I was dead… Because, through the heavy water, I heard the sound of an angel calling my name, calling me to the only heaven I wanted…_

Was that what she'd been thinking of? Had she believed me an angel?

"_Oh no, Bella, no!" the angel's voice cried in horror._

_The angel shouldn't weep, it was wrong…_

"_Bella, you're going to be fine. Can you hear me, Bella? I love you."_

"_Thank you, Edward."_

"_I love you."_

"_I know."_

_My smile was sounding in her mind, again. I heard my favorite sound in the world: Edward's quiet laugh, weak with relief…_

While the memory changed, I kept thinking on the way she looked at me.

I had always thought that Bella didn't have an angel to take care of her, that it was an injustice for someone so pure and good as her to be able to be without cares of an angel, that the only thing she had was a _guardian_ vampire while I took care of her dreams, and she always had seen me as her _angel._

The memory that was filling my memory now, was more recent, one of satisfactory happiness.

_As soon as my feet were past the treacherous stairs, I was looking for him… until I found him at last, standing before an arch overflowing with more flowers, more gossamer… All I really saw was Edward's face; it filled my vision and overwhelmed my mind… Suddenly, it was only the pressure of Charlie's hand on mine that kept me from sprinting headlong down the aisle… And then, at last, at last, I was there… I touched the cool miracle of his skin, and I was home…_

My mind was so overwhelmed, the way she'd been thinking, for what I saw, that I could barely believe it was true I was listening to _her_ thoughts.

They were nothing like what I'd once thought I'd find in her.

How many times had I wished to be able to hear to even one whisper of her mind? Just barely a few seconds ago I had been thinking the same thing, and now I was listening to her voice, seeing the same images, the same memories that filled my memory, seen through her eyes, heard through her human ears, everything that I was seeing was human, all her essence…

I was dazzled by her memories.

_For some reason I felt the need to make sure everything was real…_ I heard for the first time what I had so much wished to that night, on our honeymoon, when I had heard her walking towards the bed on our bedroom.

And then I was behind her, everything in her memory, how she'd felt my cold finger running along and wiping the drop of sweat on the nape of her neck…

"_It's a little hot here. I thought… that would be best"_

"_Thorough."_

"_I tried to think of everything that would make this… easier."_

_Had there ever been a honeymoon like this before? I knew the answer to that. No. There had not._

"_I'm sure you'd like a human minute or two.… It was a long journey."_

"_Don't take too long, Mrs. Cullen."_

Then the feeling that she'd felt when she had my lips running along her neck up to her shoulder. _"I'll wait for you in the water."_

_Did my skin burst into flames? I had to look down to check. Nope, nothing was burning. At least, not visibly._

"Don't be afraid. We belong together," my angel's voice was telling me.

"_Forever."_

I almost crumble to the ground at that moment when I remembered by her side that night… but the curiosity that had tormented me for so long, had me paralyzed, frozen in front of her, while the images kept filling my mind completely. There was no other sound, no other voice, that could make me unfocused.

_I would have been happy to lie here forever, to never disturb this moment, but my body had other ideas…_

Through my mind passed more and more images of every day we spent in Isle Esme, I was surprised to see that even when she hadn't said not even a word _sometimes_ about sex, it had always been present in her mind. Every time that she'd chosen a piece of clothing to get to sleep, it'd been with the purpose of making me fall for her, until she made it… I could see how she'd loved to be in Isle Esme during our honeymoon, almost every minute we spent there had run through my mind…

I smiled very slightly when the night of her seduction finally had positive results passed through my mind, at any moment I'd heard, not even at the bottom of her mind, the sound of the wood being ripped away from its place… she'd really been engrossed…

"_A few weeks," I agreed. And then, because there never seemed to be enough time, I added, "So I was thinking—you know what I was saying about practice before?"_

My laugh sounded in my mind. "Can you hold on to that thought? I hear a boat. The cleaning crew must be here."

He wanted me to hold on to that thought. So did that mean he was not going to give me any more trouble about practicing? A smile spread across her face, but I was seeing it in my mind.

It was like completing a small puzzle…

And now, after a long time, I had all the pieces in my head finally.

Barely a few short seconds had passed, and the images kept filling mi vision. The shock had me in a state of stillness in front of Bella.

And then I saw seeing my face again, it was another face, different from the one I'd seen in the mind of my family, somehow, I had looked even worse in Bella's mind during those weeks of her pregnancy. I had never fooled her, and how to?

"_Like what? Edward, what's happening?"_ Bella's confused voice was filling my mind.

Bella's eyes moved from my face to my hands, that had risen in her direction, a second of fear ran through her, thinking on our baby, and then, when she saw once again my expression, such emotion banished. A new one running through her bit by bit while I got closer to her stomach. I hadn't been able to concentrate, then, on what Bella could have been feeling, and now I saw it clearly, I knew it from herself.

Happiness like I'd never felt before, because it was different to everything had had ever caused her happiness before, had filled her.

I was in shock by seeing how much love and glee was in that memory…

Suddenly, without warning, the memory changed, and not just that. The colors, the sounds weren't the same anymore, they were memories of the moment in which she'd opened her eyes to this life, my face in her.

_The greater part of my senses and my mind were still focused on Edward's face… I had never seen it before this second… How many times had I stared at Edward and marveled over his beauty? How many hours—days, weeks —of my life had I spent dreaming about what I then deemed to be perfection?... I may as well have been blind…_

_For the first time, with the dimming shadows and limiting weakness of humanity taken off my eyes, I saw his face…_

Then, followed by that image, I was there, getting closer to her, slowly, and then my hand was touching her soft face.

_Wait,_ Bella had been thinking, at the time that I read how she'd felt my touch. _Wasn't I supposed to lose this? Wasn't giving up this feeling a part of the bargain?_

"_I love you,"_ her words sounded in my mind, my face and eyes on my mind…

And then I saw once again my smile, _His answering smile dazzled me more than it ever had when I was human; I could really see it now…_

"_As I love you."_

The next thing, again, almost made me melt down in front of her so I could taste her lips again like in this memory.

_It was like he'd never kissed me—like this was our first kiss. And, in truth, he'd never kissed me this way before… It almost made me feel guilty. Surely I was in breach of the contract. I couldn't be allowed to have this, too… How different this kissing was!_

_This second honeymoon wasn't like our first… I should have guessed, after a day like today, that it would be better… I could really appreciate him now—could properly see every beautiful line of his perfect face, of his long, flawless body with my strong new eyes, every angle and every plane of him. I could taste his pure, vivid scent on my tongue and feel the unbelievable silkiness of his marble skin under my sensitive fingertips… My skin was so sensitive under his hands, too… He was all new… No caution, no restraint. No fear—especially not that… We could love together—both active participants now. Finally equals…. but I couldn't believe how much I'd been missing…_

Me, either, I wanted to say, but new images of that night filled my mind, and it was too much to me. I couldn't stop myself, nor my curiosity could stop the desire that I suddenly felt forcing me to forget about her mind for a moment, the only thing that I wanted was to have her lips against mine again, having her like in this memory I had her in my mind…

Her lips touched mine, and then a gasp broke the little bit of silence that there was amongst us. The memories disappearing from my mind, leaving behind them only mine.

"Oops, lost it!" Bella whispered between our lips.

"I heard you," I assured her, while my mind was still dizzy because of the unlikeness of that I had really heard her in my mind. But I had; though, I didn't understand. "How? How did you do that?"

"Zafrina's idea," Bella explained to me. "We practice with it a few times."

Zafrina, huh? She had hidden it very well. Both.

But I was thankful she'd thought about this. Now we had another reason to go pay a visit to the Amazons.

But I still couldn't believe I had seen inside of my Bella's mind.

The memories, the images, the sounds that were filling my mind again while I remembered what she'd shown me a few seconds before. I blinked twice, trying to keep my eyes on how tangible was Bella in front of me, and then I shook my head, as if I was dizzy…

"Now you know," Bella whispered then, her tone calm. She shrugged and said. "No one's ever loved anyone as much as I love you."

"You're almost right," I told her, half-serious and half-joking. A smile on my face when I told her the next thing. "I know of just one exception."

"Liar."

Again, I joined my lips to hers. I just wanted to feel them on mine at this moment, wishing I saved another unique moment between us in my memory. Another moment that she could share with me if she wanted for the rest of eternity…

And that reminded me, and made stop all of a sudden.

It was never going to seem enough, even if she showed me every thought that had passed through her mind since I knew her.

"Can you do it again?"

Bella answered with a grimace, and then said. "It's very difficult."

I could imagine why. As soon as I had kissed her a few seconds ago, the memories had stopped seeping into my mind, so I figured that she had to be concentrated to do it. I could keep this desire controlled for a few second at least, as long as I could have another glimpse into her mind again.

So I didn't say anything, I just waited, anxious to see what else she had to show me.

What else she had, that I wanted to see.

"I can't keep it up if I'm even the slightest bit distracted," she murmured, warning me what I had already noticed.

"I'll be good."

Bella pursed her lips, considering. Her eyes narrowing while she saw my expression, and a smile showed up on her face.

Her hands raised to my face again, and a wave of expectation almost drowned me.

At this moment I wasn't sure what it was I wanted most, but it was definitely a tide at the moment.

It made it more difficult to know when the images once again came back to my mind, flooding my head with the images where Bella had been interrupted by my kiss. Our first night together… every second of that first time, every little detail, every small sensation that had ran through her, every kiss, every look, every touch, every feeling…

It was simply hard to keep myself seeing her memories, while I had my own in my mind at the same time, making them better.

And there I had my answer. What I wanted most. For now.

My lips joined hers, almost desperate to taste them right now. The laughed of Bella sounded while I kissed her.

I changed my lips to the lower part of her chin. "Damn it."

It was a tie, yes, but I couldn't suppress my desire for her. Her thoughts had been hidden from me always before this moment, not her body.

"We have plenty of time to work on it," Bella whispered, her eyes shining, too.

"Forever and forever and forever."

"That sounds exactly right to me," Bella agreed.

And to me…

Because this was barely the beginning of our forever.

Angels lived for eternity, and my Bella was an angel to me, I was to her.

And though our wings had been broken when we got immortality in exchange, I didn't need them to fly to any other heaven that wasn't the one waiting for me by my Bella's side.

Of the only angel that could give me heaven.

* * *

**This was the end of Breaking Dawn: the other side of the story.**

**I bet Edward has a lot more to say, but his time here has come to an end, I'm sure he'll keep whispering in my ear and nagging inside my mind to be allowed to come out and keep telling me stories to write down about him, and I will continue to write them and let them be known, but for now, this is over.**

**Thank you so much once again for jumping into this ride with me, and all the support I got from you. I'll miss it, but better times will come :)**

**NOTE: I'll be sending you a thank you gift to those of you who leave a review the next weeks, if you want a little bit more of Breaking Dawn: the other side of the story. And please, DO NOT think it's an epilogue.**

**I'll miss you!**


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